Open Letter: doctors and nurses facing unfair trial and risk of torture

HM King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa
Office of the King
Bahrain

Your Majesty,

We the undersigned submit this letter to highlight our concern at the recent arrest and unfair trial before a military court of 47 doctors and nurses in Bahrain.
We are additionally concerned about serious and credible allegations of torture.
In no other country in the world have we witnessed doctors and nurses persecuted on such a scale as a result of their legitimate humanitarian actions.
Among the doctors and nurses currently on trial are three doctors who studied at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dr Ali Al Ekri, Dr Basim Daif and Dr Ghassan Daif.
All three were arbitrarily detained, held in incommunicado detention, reportedly tortured, denied access to their families for 2 months and forced to confess under duress. These “confessions” were videotaped while they were blindfolded and are being used in evidence against them.
Additionally, Dr Ghassan’s wife Dr Zahra Alsammak, who also studied in Dublin, was detained for 25 days and is also facing charges.
In light of the serious allegations of torture and the failure to comply with international fair trial standards, the role of the Military Attorney General, Colonel Yusuf Rashed Felaifel should be reviewed.
Dr Ali Al Ekri, an Orthopaedic surgeon at Salmaniya Hospital in Manama, was arrested on 17 March 2011. He was taken from the operating theatre, handcuffed, and held in incommunicado detention. Along with the others he was seen in detention, held crouching in a small space, blindfolded and handcuffed.
On March 19th Dr Basim Daif and his brother Dr Ghassan Daif were arrested. When they were taken into custody, their homes were ransacked and their valuables and important documents were taken.
Mrs Rula Al Saffar, Head of Bahrain Nursing Society, was arrested on April 4th. A cancer survivor herself, she became a board member of the Bahrain Cancer Society and remains in detention.
The charges against them include “allowing media, that supported demonstrators and were in their service, to enter the hospital and take pictures and films inside”, “making erroneous statements that include bogus and inflated numbers about the number of the injured”, “embezzlement of money”, “assault resulting in death” and “unauthorised possession of weapons and ammunition.”
Their real crimes were to treat injured demonstrators who were brought to the hospital and protesting to the Minister of Health at the refusal to send ambulances to collect the injured.
On April 9th 2011, former Front Line Protection Coordinator Abdulhadi Al Khawaja was arrested and brutally beaten. His injuries were so severe that he had to have a four hour operation in a military hospital. After an unfair trial before a military court he was sentenced to life imprisonment. During the trial he repeatedly tried to raise serious allegations of torture but the court refused to address them. At the same time blogger and human rights defender Ali Abdulemam was sentenced in absentia to 15 years in prison.

Your Majesty, we appeal to you as the person responsible for upholding the rights of all the people of Bahrain to:
Release all human rights defenders currently in detention including Dr Ali Al Ekri, Dr Basim Daif, Dr Ghassan Daif and Mrs Rula Al Saffar.
Drop the charges against all 47 doctors, nurses and technicians, including Dr Zahra Alsammak.
Overturn the conviction of human rights defenders Ali Abdulemam and Abdulhadi Al Khawaja.
End the unfair trials.
Bring those responsible for torture to justice.
Yours sincerely

http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/pe...rainopenletter