Rights groups slam Bahraini crackdown

International NGOs say government has been targeting medical facilities, while also torturing pro-democracy activists. Last Modified: 23 Apr 2011 08:28

Rights groups say that both sides have violated the 'medical neutrality' of the Salmaniya hospital in Manama [Reuters] Rights organisations are calling on the Bahraini government to halt what they term human rights violations and to stop a crackdown on hospitals where doctors and patients suspected of being sympathetic to pro-democracy protests have been arrested. In separate statements on Friday, Medicins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders), Amnesty International and Physicians for Human Rights slammed the government's attacks on medical staff. London-based Amnesty urged the international community to step in to stop the crackdown, or risk being accused of having "double standards". "North American and European governments, so vocal recently in espousing the cause of human rights in Libya, Tunisia and Egypt, need also to speak out loudly about what is going on in Bahrain," said Malcolm Smart, Amnesty International's director for the Middle East and North Africa. "To avoid the charge of double standards, they must be much more robust in pressing the Bahraini authorities to uphold their international human rights obligations." In a new report, the group accuses the Bahraini government of launching "a cleverly planned and orchestrated crackdown using excessive force to suppress protests calling for political change and reform". Click here for more of Al Jazeera's special coverage Amnesty says that security forces' use of shotguns, rubber bullets and tear gas, as well as live ammunition in some cases, was unjustified. It said that more than 500 people have been arrested in the last month in the tiny Gulf island country, which has seen a series of protests against the current monarchy-led government since February 14. At least four detainees have died while in custody under "suspicious circumstances", Amnesty says. The group points out that many of those arrested are doctors and nurses at the capital Manama's main Salmaniya Medical Complex. 'Places to be feared' Meanwhile, Paris-based Medecins Sans Frontieres said on Friday that the Bahraini government had turned hospitals into "places to be feared". "Wounds are used to identify demonstrators, restricted access to health care is being used to deter people from protesting, and those who dare to seek treatment in health facilities are being arrested," Latifa Ayada, an MSF medical coordinator, said. "Health facilities are used as bait to identify and arrest those who dare seek treatment." The group said in a statement said during a visit to the Salmaniya hospital it appeared "virtually empty". It said that injured people had told MSF staff that the military had beaten them, "including on their wounds", while others said patients were being arrested inside health facilities if it became apparent that they were injured during the pro-democracy protests. 'Medical neutrality' violated It said that the use of the hospital as a site for demonstrations against the government, which had prompted an occupation by the Bahraini military to clear them out, had "undermined the ability of health facilities to provide impartial medical care". Amnesty also accused both sides of violating the hospital's "medical neutrality" during the protests. "The police, military and intelligence services must stop using the health system as a way to crack down on the protesters," MSF said in a statement. Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), a US-based rights group, meanwhile, said the government was carrying out "systematic attacks" on medical staff. "The excessive use of force against unarmed civilians, patients in hospitals and medical personnel that PHR's investigators documented is extremely troubling and is cause for an immediate international investigation," the group said in a statement on Friday.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies