Physicians Urge Obama Admin to Pressure Mideast Ally Bahrain to End Repression of Doctors, Patients

May 05, 2011 from Democracy Now!

The Gulf nation of Bahrain has announced that 47 medical workers who treated pro-democracy protesters during the nation's popular uprising will be tried before a military court on charges of acting against the state. Some could face the death penalty for providing medical assistance to protesters. Human rights groups say the arrests are part of a campaign of intimidation that runs directly counter to the Geneva Convention, which guarantees medical care to people wounded in conflict. Democracy Now! speaks with Richard Sollom of Physicians for Human Rights. He recently traveled to Bahrain to document the situation there, and is the co-author of a new report, "Do No Harm: A Call for Bahrain to End Systematic Attacks on Doctors and Patients."

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Physicians for Human Rights

Physicians for Human Rights is a nonprofit human rights organization. It was founded in 1986 by a small group of doctors who believed the unique scientific expertise and authority of health professionals could bring human rights violations to light and provide justice for vict... Explore this topic

Bahrain

Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain is a small island country situated near the western shores of the Persian Gulf. It is an archipelago of 33 islands, the largest being Bahrain Island, at 55 km long by 18 km wide. Saudi Arabia lies to the west and is connected to Bahra... Explore this topic

Geneva Conventions

The Geneva Conventions comprise four treaties, and three additional protocols, that establish the standards of international law for the humanitarian treatment of war. The singular term Geneva Convention denotes the agreements of 1949, negotiated in the aftermath of the Second... Explore this topic

Military tribunal

A military tribunal is a kind of military court designed to try members of enemy forces during wartime, operating outside the scope of conventional criminal and civil proceedings. The judges are military officers and fulfill the role of jurors. Military tribunals are distinct ... Explore this topic

Capital punishment

Capital punishment or the death penalty is a legal process whereby a person is put to death by the state as a punishment for a crime. The judicial decree that someone be punished in this manner is a death sentence, while the actual process of killing the person is an execution... Explore this topic

Protest

An act of defiance or objection by an individual or group of people. Protests can take many forms: peaceful or violent, direct or indirect, large or small. Protests in the news are often political in nature, as groups of citizens voice their disagreement or dissatisfaction. Pr... Explore this topic

Health care

Health care is the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in humans. Health care is delivered by practitioners in medicine, chiropractic, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, allied health, and other care providers.... Explore this topic

Arab Spring

Kebangkitan dunia Arab atau Musim Semi Arab adalah gelombang revolusi unjuk rasa dan protes yang terjadi di dunia Arab. Sejak 18 Desember 2010, telah terjadi revolusi di Tunisia dan Mesir; perang saudara di Libya; pemberontakan sipil di Bahrain, Suriah, and Yaman; protes besar... Explore this topic

Doctor

A physician is a person who practices some type of human biological medicine. Explore this topic

Democracy Now!

Democracy Now! is a United States daily progressive, nonprofit, independently syndicated program of news, analysis, and opinion, aired by more than 1000 radio, television, satellite and cable TV networks in North America. The award-winning one hour War and Peace Report is host... Explore this topic

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Bahrain

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