Following PHR’s calls for the release of detained doctors and medical staff in Bahrain, nine doctors were reportedly freed. According to PHR’s sources in the field, eight female doctors and one male doctor were released late yesterday evening.
Doctors in Bahrain have been disappearing as part of a systematic attack on medical staff, as detailed in PHR’s recent report, “Do No Harm: A Call for Bahrain to End Systematic Attacks on Doctors and Patients.”Many of the medical professionals are being held incommunicado in unknown locations and on Tuesday the government of Bahrain charged 47 medical staff with trying to overthrow the regime.
Last month, PHR launched the campaign, Bahrain Free the Docs. The campaign has called for the release of detained medical staff and for the government of Bahrain to end violations of medical neutrality, a principle enshrined in international law and international humanitarian law which dictates noninterference with medical professionals in times of civil unrest and conflict. In the weeks following, PHR released a report, PHR members wrote letters to the Crown Prince of Bahrain calling for the release of the doctors and PHR joined with prominent medical associations to call for the Crown Prince of Bahrain to cease the attacks on medical staff. The campaign resulted in widespread media coverage including pieces on CNN and in The New York Timesas well as the US State Department expressing concern about the violations of medical neutrality in Bahrain.
While PHR celebrates with the families of those released yesterday, we continue to call on the government of Bahrain to free the remaining physicians and stop their attacks on health professionals.
Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) today released an emergency report which documents and decries systematic human rights abuses in Bahrain. For the first time, the report, “Do No Harm: A Call for Bahrain to End Systematic Attacks on Doctors and Patients,” provides forensic evidence of attacks on physicians, medical staff, patients and unarmed civilians with the use of bird shot, physical beatings, rubber bullets, tear gas and unidentified chemical agents. The report was featured on several major news outlets including the Associated Press, AFP, BBC, CNN, the Independent, New York Times, and Washington Post.
The report details systematic and coordinated attacks against medical personnel, as a result of their efforts to provide unbiased care for wounded protestors. These attacks violate the principle of “medical neutrality” and are grave breaches of international law which dictates noninterference with medical services in times of civil unrest. Included in the violations were targeted kidnappings, beatings, and threats of rape and killing by security officials. These attacks extended to the patients of medical personnel created an atmosphere of fear which dissuaded patients from seeking care.
The report concludes with policy recommendations for Bahrain, the Unites States and the international community. Among other calls for action, PHR demands for Bahrain to immediately cease and desist all attacks on medical personnel and facilities. PHR also calls on the Obama Administration to lead an international effort to appoint a Special Rapporteur on Violations of Medical Neutrality through the United Nations Human Rights Council.
Two years ago, Kamiar Alaei, MD, and Arash Alaei, MD, were arrested in Iran, just as they were preparing to leave for Mexico to present on their innovative harm reduction work at the XVII International AIDS Conference.
On July 18, the world convenes again for the XVIII International AIDS Conference in Vienna, Austria — but will be short two shining stars. Arash and Kamiar remain in jail today. The Iranian government accused the brothers of using trips to AIDS and public health conferences around the world to “foment a velvet revolution” and sentenced them to years in prison. We say treating AIDS is not a crime.
Friends and colleagues of the Alaeis will be in Vienna spreading the word about their case and advocating for their release, and PHR will be supporting them all the way.
Will you be in Vienna at the AIDS conference? To volunteer with these efforts, email Clint Trout at clintworldwide [at] yahoo [dot] com.
Throughout their careers, the Alaeis have promoted public health diplomacy and supported the quest for shared solutions to the world’s shared disease burden. It is an outrage to call this treason. Medical professionals should not be put in prison for doing their jobs. Take action today and stand in solidarity with the Alaeis.
Physicians for Human Rights joins numerous international NGOs, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Reporters Without Borders, in supporting United4Iran’s Global Day of Action on June 12, 2010. June 12 events will be occurring in over 70 cities around the world. Go to 12June.org for more information.
June 12 marks the one year anniversary of Iran’s disputed election, which was followed by a government crackdown that saw an increase in arbitrary arrests, torture, and politically motivated use of the death penalty. The Global Day of Action calls attention to Prisoners of Conscience in Iran, and demands their unconditional release.
Since last year’s elections, the human rights situation in Iran has only grown worse. PHR continues to highlight the case of Drs. Kamiar and Arash Alaei, Iranian doctors who have been held by Iranian authorities since June 2008. After being imprisoned without charge for six months, the Doctors Alaei were convicted and sentenced for the charges of being in “communications with an enemy government” and “seeking to overthrow the Iranian government.” Kamiar was given a three year prison sentence, while Arash was sentenced to six years.
The Iranian government used the doctors’ travel to international AIDS conferences as a basis for the charge. Iran cannot continue to imprison medical professions for doing their job. By equating public health diplomacy with treason, the Iranian government poses a threat to all Iranians working for scientific knowledge.
Stand with PHR and the international community to tell the world that “Treating AIDS is not a crime.” Visit iranfreethedocs.org for more information on the Alaeis. And on June 12, please help us remember and defend those in Iran jailed for their humanitarian work.
For PHR members in Canada, we’d like to extend an invitation to an important meeting in Toronto on the case of three Sri Lankan doctors detained earlier this year:
Human Rights, Politics and the Hippocratic Oath:
Exploring Physicians’ Roles in Conflict Situations
T. Sathiyamoorthy, MD, V. Shanmugarajah, MD and T. Varatharajah, MD were government-employed physicians detained without charge after saving thousands of lives during the war in Sri Lanka in 2009. This panel discussion will focus on the circumstances around their cases, and explore the concepts of medical neutrality and ethical duty to patients during war. Panelists will also touch on the broader themes of press freedom, detention without charge, and human rights violations as they pertain to the doctors’ story.
Remember the calamitous end to Sri Lanka’s 26-year-long civil war back in May? Some 16,700 non-combatants were wounded and several thousand more were killed during the final onslaught. Fighting between the 150,000-strong Sri Lankan Army (SLA) and the 7,000-strong Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) armed forces resulted in 300,000 displaced minority Tamils.
Although both sides committed mass atrocities, recent video footage of apparent executions (warning: this video contains graphic images) of 9 Tamil POWs supports widespread allegations of war crimes by the SLA.
But the international community, most notably the UN Security Council, remains idle while it should be launching a commission of inquiry.
