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For Immediate Release

Bahrain Government Must Not Arrest and Detain Convicted Medics

07/02/2012

PHR called today for the Government of Bahrain to set aside the recent convictions of 11 medics. Four of the 11 medics that were convicted of participating in and supporting unlicensed protests and rallies currently face arrest and detention.

“These medics must not be returned to jail. Given that many of the medics were tortured while in detention, they should be allowed to stay home during the appeal and should not face any additional jail time,” said Richard Sollom, Deputy Director of PHR.

PHR has continually challenged the legitimacy of the charges against the medics.

“We believe the Kingdom of Bahrain still has time to act before the doctors are arrested and taken to prison,” said Hans Hogrefe, Chief Policy Officer at PHR. “In the past, leading medical organizations have called for the release of the doctors. Today we again call on the voices of medical professionals worldwide to urge the Government of Bahrain to set aside the verdicts and not carry out the sentences.”

Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) is an independent organization that uses medicine and science to stop mass atrocities and severe human rights violations against individuals. We are supported by the expertise and passion of health professionals and concerned citizens alike.

Since 1986, PHR has conducted investigations in more than 40 countries around the world, including Afghanistan, Congo, Rwanda, Sudan, the United States, the former Yugoslavia, and Zimbabwe.

  • 1988 — First to document Iraq’s use of chemical weapons against Kurds
  • 1996 — Exhumed mass graves in the Balkans
  • 1996 — Produced critical forensic evidence of genocide in Rwanda
  • 1997 — Shared the Nobel Peace Prize for the International Campaign to Ban Landmines
  • 2003 — Warned of health and human rights catastrophe prior to the invasion of Iraq
  • 2004 — Documented and analyzed the genocide in Darfur
  • 2005 — Detailed the story of tortured detainees in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantánamo Bay
  • 2010 — Showed how CIA medical personnel sought to improve waterboarding and
                  other interrogation techniques that amount to torture
  • 2011 — Championed the principle of noninterference with medical services
                  in times of armed conflict and civil unrest during the Arab Spring

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