- MANAMA, Bahrain: An international medical charity says Bahraini authorities have conducted a systematic campaign of attacks and arrests of medical professionals who have treated injured protesters during weeks of unrest in the Gulf kingdom.
Physicians for Human Rights says Bahrain’s security forces have been targeting doctors and nurses ostensibly because they have “evidence of atrocities committed by the authorities, security forces and riot police” during a crackdown on Shiite dissent in the Sunni-ruled island nation.
The US-based group says in a statement Friday that at least 32 health care professionals have been detained since Bahrain declared martial law last month to quell anti-government demonstrations by the country’s Shiite majority demanding greater freedoms.