THU 28 - 3 - 2024
 
Date: Mar 18, 2011
Source: The Daily Star
U.N. says Manama 'violating international law'
Rights chief slams security forces’ treatment of doctors, hospital takeovers

Friday, March 18, 2011


U.N. rights chief Navi Pillay Thursday slammed security forces’ takeover of Bahrain hospitals and medical facilities as “a blatant violation of international law.”
Pillay said in a statement she was “deeply alarmed by the escalation of violence by security forces in Bahrain, in particular the reported takeover of hospitals and medical centers” in the country, which she called shocking.


Rights activists have deplored a bloody crackdown mounted by Sunni rulers against Shiite-led protesters, accusing security forces of preventing the injured from reaching hospitals and of beating medics trying to collect the wounded from the streets.


Empowered by state-of-emergency regulations announced Tuesday, shotgun-toting, white-helmeted police manned checkpoints around Manama’s Salmaniya Medical Center Thursday, questioning people but not preventing them from entering the hospital, an AFP reporter said.


State TV had said security forces had “cleared” the hospital of “saboteurs,” after police firing tear gas and shotguns Wednesday cleared out a pro-democracy sit-in at Pearl Square n the capital.


Meanwhile, opposition MP Khalil al-Marzouk said that Dr. Ali al-Ekri was arrested Thursday at Salmaniya hospital. A state television anchor had earlier mentioned Ekri as someone spreading “fabrications” about the conditions of the hospital.
Amina Hasan, a doctor at a medical center in Sitra, south of Manama, told AFP that the center Thursday received 15 people suffering shotgun wounds inflicted in confrontations Wednesday.


She added that they had not been able to reach the center Wednesday as the roads were blocked by security forces.
“Governments are obliged to protect the rights to life and health of the people, but we are hearing very credible reports indicating that they are in fact obstructing access to such rights,” said Pillay.


Her office has received calls and e-mails from individuals in Bahrain, who are “terrified about the armed forces’ intentions,” she revealed.
“There are reports of arbitrary arrests, killings, beatings of protesters and of medical personnel, and of the takeover of hospitals and medical centers by various security forces.


“This is shocking and illegal conduct,” she stressed, calling on the security forces to leave health care facilities and to stop harassing medics.
Also Thursday, the International Committee of the Red Cross also called for medical workers to be given “unimpeded access to the injured.”


“We are very concerned about the escalation of violence, which has led to more deaths and to scores of people being injured over the past few days,” said Gerard Peytrignet, an ICRC official. “Injured people, and medical personnel, vehicles and facilities, must be respected and protected by all,” he said, adding that security forces must adhere to international rules on the use of force when attempting to restore order.

 

Pillay said the government must stop using force against unarmed protestors. “I also urge the protesters and the government to engage in immediate dialogue for meaningful reforms and an end to violence.”
Amnesty also denounced the crackdown saying that the royal government was “very clearly trying to suppress any kind of freedom of speech.”


The group called on the international community to pressure the authorities in Bahrain to allow demonstrations and freedom of speech and ensure that basic human rights are not “massively violated.” “The Bahrain government needs to immediately stop any kind of violence and excessive force,” Nicolas Beger, Amnesty’s EU representative, told the AP.


Beger said the security forces were using live ammunition against peaceful demonstrators and had occupied the capital’s main hospital, effectively preventing those injured in the crackdown from getting medical help. He said medical staff had also been targeted. “You shoot at them and prevent them from getting help. That is one way of trying to deter other people from participating in demonstrations,” he said.
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton also called on the authorities to unblock the hospital. – Agencies



 
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