1st October 2011 Activities currently in progress

Some of you may be interested to see what action is being taken in areas that you may not be aware of in solidarity with your struggle:

29/9/11 Professor Damian McCormack was interviewed by ABC Radio Australia, BBC World News TV, BBC 4 TV and BBC World Service Radio.

Consuls from Sweden and Denmark are collaborating to form a common diplomatic network as they have 3 Bi-Nationals in Prison.

Lord David Owen spoke on the BBC World Service tonight 30/09/11

Janet Salmon, prominent writer and UK Activist has been lobbying and reporting in the UK.

Finian Cunningham, Irish Journalist deported earlier this summer from Bahrain wrote on 18^th Sept: http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?aid=26630&context=va

Richard Horton, Editor of the medical publication The Lancet, is keen to be of practical assistance and exploring strategies.

Professor Eoin O’Brien has had a number of letters and articles published subsequent to his investigative visit to Bahrain earlier this year.

Professor MX Fitzgerald has again written to the Irish Times

James Bridge, EU/International Adviser, RCN, UK is actively seeking to keep the spotlight on Bahrain and is soon to Head up UNESCO in the UK where his efforts will continue.

The International Council of Nurses has put situation on their website and also the Royal College of Nursing in UK.

Sheila Dickson, President Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation is just back from Copenhagen. She issued a Press Release today and sent letters to Irish Foreign Minister Eamon Gilmore and the Ambassador of Bahrain to Ireland.

Brian Dooley of Human Rights First in DC is lobbying in US regarding the proposed €53m Arms deal.

Amber Lyon of CNN is releasing an in-depth article this weekend on the sentenced Medics.

A number of Professors in University College Dublin are paying attention but are wondering in what capacity they can help. This is a common issue.

CNN 2 Doctors jailed in Bahrain INTERVIEW 30/09/11

http://edition.cnn.com/video/?/video/international/2011/09/30/bahrai-doctors.cnn

Bahrain Fresh national Protests - Pre Dignity Loop 21/09/2011 contact.ie

Bahrain Fresh National Protests

Wed, 21/09/2011 - 09:59 | Contact.ie

This is a guest post from Tara O'Grady, Independent Human Rights Activist.
A Chara,
It is encouraging to many that you publish letters on developments in Bahrain and that you provide an outlet for exposing issues there which many of us in Ireland feel particularly strongly about.
I urgently wish to draw your attention to scheduled events in coming days ;
The 21st September will see a massive national offensive in Bahrain which aims to debilitate the Diplomatic District in central Manama in an effort to garner international media attention.

This Peaceful Pro-Democracy Demonstration is being labeled "The Dignity Hoop" (a direct translation from Arabic – but essentially a ‘Ring of Dignity’). Protesters will drive their cars to the designated vicinity with the intent of paralyzing traffic in this sensitive area at the busiest time of day 7:00am – 10:00am.

The event has been coordinated largely through Social Media networking on Facebook and Twitter and once again the activists have no weapons with which to either provoke regime mercenaries or indeed to protect themselves from them.

Remarkable as it may seem, the National Telecoms Company appears set to play a supporting role in tomorrow’s anticipated ‘clamp-down’. Batelco is ‘taking out’ telecoms from 8am-12pm in the South of the Island – at precisely the time when innumerable social media activists will be furtively trying to Tweet and post live videos on YouTube or Facebook.
See Batelco Notice: http://p.twimg.com/AZvB-HrCMAAzvbr.jpg:large

Personally I am concerned for imminent fatalities - predominantly as there is a recent history of birdshot and teargas related deaths of late, but also in light of the Ministry of Interiors threat to take very serious action against anyone taking part in the protest (including children), and the knowledge that the regime is culpable, in reality, of mass detention and torture.
Statement from MOI: http://www.policemc.gov.bh/en/news_details.aspx?type=1&articleId=9183

Despite this warning of retribution, (indeed they have become accustomed to the menace of excessive force), the people are adamantly insisting on their demands for radical reform and the right to self determination; many calling for the Regime to be replaced with a Constitutional Monarchy.

To date, Government forces have killed more than 40 people, sacked 2500 workers, demolished more than 40 Mosques and ignored all legitimate demands; imprisoning and torturing those who would speak out against them. There are nightly occurrences of youths being plucked from the streets - only to endure the most heinous vengeance at the hands of mercenaries imported by the Bahraini Government from Saudi, Yemen, Jordan and Pakistan. Incidentally, people in these countries have held demonstrations objecting to the use of their forces in Bahrain.

This week too will see a National Unity Protest by the opposition political parties on 22nd with the main event "Lulu Return" taking place on the 23rd-24th September. Rallies will congregate at various villages and will advance toward “Pearl Square”, known as "Martyrs Square" or "Lulu Square" in memory of the people whose lives were lost in the murderous assault on civilians in February and March during the protests which drew so much media attention.
In coming days the people of Bahrain “will face the tanks of the national army and the Saudi invaders with their naked chests even it costs them their lives”.

These people ‘fight’ rifles with roses and create prayer beads from rubber bullets that are fired at them. They do not defend themselves. When they are injured in coming days, if they’re lucky … they may have access to medical assistance from ‘underground hospitals’ who offer makeshift theatres and onsite emergency care, under the radar.(Medicin Sans Frontiers clinic was forcibly shut down by the Regime earlier this year). I met people last week at the Frontline Defenders Conference who help nightly in this effort. The injured know that if they go to hospital they will be arrested for taking part in demonstrations since the public hospitals were commandeered by the military and are still occupied by mercenaries.

It is with a heavy heart that I ask you to please consider printing this letter to let them know we are watching and that not everyone is silent.
My thanks in advance,
Is Mise,

Tara O’Grady
Independent Human Rights Activist

Call to Action - contact.ie Publication 29/09/2011

CALL TO ACTION: Sentencing of Bahraini Doctors 29/09/11

Wed, 28/09/2011 - 18:59 | taraaogrady

Tomorrow morning at 10am, Bahrain time, the doctors, who were detained for upholding their Hippocratic Oath during Opposition Protests in February and March this year, will be sentenced.

If they go in person to the hearings, they will be taken into custody instantly sentencing is passed.

Mrs. Jalila Al Salman, the woman who is deputy of the teachers union, and was on hunger strike with Mrs. Rula Al Saffar, was sentenced in absentia to three years imprisonment last week.

Her associate Mr. Abu Deeb, Head of the Teachers Union, has been remanded in custody and sentenced to ten years.

The life sentence of Mr. Abdulhadi AlKhawaja (a pioneer of Human Rights) has today been upheld.

Currently, women and children being plucked from the streets and detained and tortured as a matter of course.

The daily calls I’m receiving are mounting in number and sounding increasingly helpless, hopeless and in genuine despair.

People are perplexedly trying to find a way to make an impact and are exhausted with their frustrated efforts.

An action forum is needed to collaborate on the direction of efforts.

The Irish Medics Solidarity fast which, many believe, drew positive media attention to the Bahraini plight, has been mentioned countless times as a focal point which gave people hope and a mode of access to international news.

There are people who read this from all corners of the earth, and as a world citizen I urge you all to be upstanding in your efforts to continue to publicly oppose the cruel machinations of this despicable regime.

There is no time to waste. We are being looked to and depended upon to act in some form.

Please advise if you have suggestions that we may cooperate on, en masse, to make productive impact? @taraaogrady

Panel Interview PressTV Sept 08 2011

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/198043.html

The doctors on hunger strike in Dublin will continue their efforts to express solidarity with their detained colleagues in Bahrain, a rights activist tells Press TV.

Tara O'Grady, an independent human rights advocate in Dublin, shared her thoughts on the developments in the Persian Gulf sheikhdom in an interview with Press TV.

The following is a transcript of the interview:

Press TV: How is it that the people of western governments show their solidarity with the Bahraini people, but at the same time the western governments turn a blind eye to the deadly crackdown in Bahrain?

O'Grady: People have their dignity strict way. Hunger strike is the final active protest. In Ireland we identify very strongly with the strikers. We had a famine 150 years ago and through our history in order to bring shame on an aggressor we would go on hunger strike and throw ourselves on the ground outside someone's house so that they would walk over us every time that they went into and left their home. It is a way when you have absolutely no other power left open to you that you can say, “Shame on you! You have done this to me, shame on you!” Our governments are not speaking out quickly enough. The international media have been virtually silent on it. It is a small grassroots group saying, “We will not be silent listeners any longer; no more martyrs.”

Press TV: Why do you think the US government is still remaining tightlipped toward rights violations in Bahrain?

O'Grady: I believe it has to do with power and economy.

Press TV: US President Barack Obama has said to the government in Bahrain that it cannot negotiate when the opposition is in jail. Why does the US government then support the dialog when the opposition is still in jail? Do think Obama's comment is only a public relations stunt?

O'Grady: I am Irish and not American. You have King Hamad declaring his support for the Libyan freedom fighters and it is kind of like the kettle calling the pot black. He gives thousands of euros and aid to the Somali children and yet on his own doorstep there is nine to 12-year-olds going on hunger strike in solidarity with their family members who are being detained. He has the 14-year-old who was killed the other day. So, there is so much irony and hypocritical diplomacy wrangling going on.

Press TV: The new UK ambassador to Bahrain was recently there and lauded the relationship that exists between Bahrain and the UK and said that he is ready to cooperate, representing the UK government, in all fields. Why can he not cooperate on fields that have to do with human rights?

O'Grady: Again, I am not English. I am Irish. From our own country we have another element of hypocriticism ... We have got our own issues going on around all of that.

Press TV: Tell us about the doctors in Dublin that have gone on hunger strike in solidarity with the detainees in Bahrain. What are the short-term and long-term plans? Are there any other movements?

O'Grady: It does not stop here ... the hunger strike does not stop. We continue to have our solidarity until the other strikers and detainees are released. So it does not stop here.

Professor Damian McCormick and Professor Fitzgerald are both affiliated with the world college of surgeons and the world college of physicians. There was an email between them and a number of medics within the profession. They said they feel very strongly about this and that these doctors in Bahrain and the people who are working in the industry over there have been detained purely for doing their jobs. They treated whoever was on the bed; law enforcement agents or protesters...

Press TV: What general sense do people in Ireland have of what is unfolding in Bahrain?

O'Grady: We have interviewed a number of pretty high-profile people. For example, Damian McCormack is obviously outraged from the medical side of things. From the colleges, there are obviously teachers and students who have been detained and tortured and face military tribunals purely for exercising their right to freedom of speech and protesting. David Farrell of University College Dublin is absolutely outraged by this.

Jalila al-Salman of the Bahrain Teachers Association and Rula al-Saffar of the Bahrain Nursing Society were both released after being detained for a strike they had a couple of weeks ago. There is no glory in having doctors and prisoners released. They have already been tortured. They have already been detained without charges being brought against them or without having a court case. These are not people who are terrorists. These are not people who have weapons. When people are pouring out into the streets at night -- I am sure they would rather be sleeping -- they have nothing else they could do. They have no other way to define themselves. It has to be done after dark. They do not have weapons. Is this not outrageous?

When they are injured while protesting they cannot go to the hospitals, because the hospitals are occupied by the military. When that young boy was killed last week and was brought to hospital, the media misrepresented it and said the doctors refused to treat him. That was not the case. The military personnel at the hospital refused to allow them access with the child. That is what is being faced. They are doctors who are going to treat protesters at night, under the radar, in houses, because they cannot go to hospitals and the reason they cannot go to hospitals is because these young men and young women are going to be detained and imprisoned and tortured. It is absolutely outrageous, unacceptable.

Transcript of my Interview on PressTV Sept 08 2011

Irish doctors have planned to stage a hunger strike in solidarity with their Bahraini colleagues.

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/197967.html

This comes after over 200 Bahrainis imprisoned for participating in anti-government protests went on hunger strike, according to the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR).

Press TV has interviewed Tara O'Grady, an independent human rights advocate from Dublin, to share her opinion on this issue.

Press TV: When is the Irish medical staff going to start their hunger strike and what is the reason behind this move?

O'Grady: Well, we know that the king's decree has been overruled and the detained are once again facing military court tribunals. Obviously, it seems they are guilty until they are proven innocent. We are adding our voices to insist that they be tried in civilian courts.

Press TV: What about the average Irish person? How knowledgeable are they about the situation, the crackdown, that is taking place in Bahrain. What exactly do they know?

O'Grady: Well, the regime is controlling so much propaganda that is coming out of Bahrain that it is difficult to have true media representation internationally. They know very little really over here unless you are involved with either teachers' organizations, your students or you are involved in the medical community. Predominantly the people, the average every day civilian does not really know about what is happening in Bahrain because the media is so controlled and too many media groups who do know and governments are silent on the issue and it is of no benefits to the people of Bahrain to be a silent witness.

Press TV: And what about the new coverage itself, [that] you mentioned a bit, in Ireland and UK general. Has there been any coverage about the solidarity hunger strike?

O'Grady: Yes, a little today. Really it was literally 24 hours ago that the proposal was put together to have a solidarity fast by Professor Fitzgerald and Professor Damien McCormack who are both affiliates of medical colleges and some frontline defenders who are joining us. Literally within 24 hours there has been a lot of people coming on board with it and international attention we have: doctors in the UK, the United States and France who are joining this strike also.

Press TV: What type of impacts you think could come about from this move?

O'Grady: Well, We understand that Jalila al-Salman and Roula al-Saffar's release can be considered a successful hunger strike and we are hoping to achieve some level of success by supporting the detainees in the only way that we open to us this solidarity fast. We are not diplomats or international parliamentarians. We are merely a group of doctors, nurses and civilians hoping that our voices would be heard and really we wish to say no more martyrs.

Channel 4 News UK - Doctor claims he was Tortured

http://www.channel4.com/news/doctor-jailed-in-bahrain-claims-he-was-tortured

Royal College of Nurses Recent Activity

Head of Bahraini Nurses’ Association freed, but faces trial before military-run “Special Tribunal”

The President of Bahrain Nursing Society Mrs Rula Al Saffar and her health care colleagues have been released from prison, but she and her colleagues still face trial and sentencing.    Working with other health and human rights organisations, the International Council of Nurses and RCN’s work to raise the issue, may have contributed to her release. 

UK Foreign Secretary William Hague “deeply concerned”

A number of medics and colleagues arrested by the Bahraini authorities were sentenced on 29 September by the type of military-run “Special Tribunal” Mrs Rula Al Saffar is expected to face.  Commenting on what have been called apparently disproportionate sentences by the Bahrain, UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said that he is “…deeply concerned, that after the briefest of hearings, a Bahraini Special Tribunal has sentenced a group of medics to between 5 and 15 years in prison, upheld life sentences against Bahraini opposition leaders and passed one sentence of the death penalty.  These sentences appear disproportionate to the charges brought…..I call on the Bahraini judicial authorities to follow due process carefully and transparently, and to revoke the decision to impose the death penalty.  Cases before the Special Tribunals should be transferred to regular civilian courts.  This would help the Bahraini authorities demonstrate their commitment to upholding civil liberties, including the right to appeal and equal access to justice”. http://ukinbahrain.fco.gov.uk/en/

RCN CEO and Dr Peter Carter calls for fair trial and call for them to respect human rights commitments

RCN CEO Dr Peter Carter said,

“The RCN, nurses, medical and human rights organisations around the world are deeply concerned by the sentences handed out to medical staff and others by a military-run Special Tribunal.   As UK Foreign Secretary William Hague says, the death penalty should be revoked and the trials transferred to the civilian courts.  In July 2008 Bahrain signed a 5- point plant with the United Nations to put Human Rights at the top of the country’s agenda when they were elected to the United Nations Human Rights Council.  We trust that the Bahraini authorities will adhere to the agreements which they signed into national law, in the Bahraini nursing code and as the Part of the International Bill of Human Rights to which they are signatories” http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law

Further information

The RCN believes it is essential that Mrs Al Saffar and her colleagues face a fair trial.  The medics sentenced on 29 September are permitted to appeal. Organisations including Amnesty International, Médecins Sans Frontières, the International Council of Nurses, the Irish Nurses’ Association, the BMA  and a number of governments are also monitoring the situation.

Mrs Al Saffar was one of 24 nurses, 23 physicians and other health care workers who were arrested when government authorities entered several hospitals in February 2011. They have allegedly been subject to torture and Mrs Al Saffar had begun a hunger strike.

Bahraini letter from their UN Representative on their commitment to human rights: http://www.un.org/ga/60/elect/hrc/bahrain.pdf

Read the International Council of Nurses and the World Medical Association joint statement, which called for fair trials for the health workers in Bahrain on the International Council of Nurses website. [link to: www.icn.ch/images/stories/documents/news/press_releases/2011_PR_10_Doctors_and_nurses_leaders_call_for_fair_trial_in_Bahrain.pdf]

Read the RCN news article, RCN expresses concern over health care staff on trial in Bahrain. [link to: http://www.rcn.org.uk/newsevents/news/article/uk/rcn_expresses_concern_over_health_care_staff_on_trial_in_bahrain]

US Tom Lantos Human Rights Hearing at the House of Representatives, USA  on Human Rights in Bahrain:

http://tlhrc.house.gov/docs/transcripts/2011_05_13_Bahrain/Transcript_REVISED_29aug11.pdf

Letter from Marian Harkin to EU High Commissioner Catherine Ashton

30/09/11

Dear High Commissioner Ashton,

Following my previous letter to you concerning the arrest of medics in Bahrain, and the false hope inspired by the release of a number of these, the situation has yet again deteriorated. As you are no doubt aware, 20 Bahraini doctors were this week sentenced to between 5-15 years imprisonment by Military Court for treating injured protesters. The aforementioned sentenced doctors were detained for 5+ months, reportedly tortured, deprived from access to legal advice and kept away from their families most ofTHE  time. It is important to note that some of these doctors are married, hence leaving their children with no parents at home.

The savage sentences imposed on medical personnel in a Bahrain Military Court flies in the face of any fair and democratic system of justice.

To sentence doctors to 15 years imprisonment for treating those wounded in demonstrations against the Bahrain regimes is a travesty.  I would ask you to use the influence of your office to strongly impress on the Bahraini authorities that the absence of justice involved in these sentences is totally unacceptable to the European Union.

I would greatly appreciate your strongest possible representations in this matter, and would be pleased to discuss the matter further with you and your services.

Kind Regards, 

Marian Harkin

Press Letter from Prof MX Fitzgerald 30/09/11 Re: Sentencing of BH Medics

From: Prof. Muiris FitzGerald
Sent: 30 September 2011 12:23
To: lettersed@irishtimes.com
Subject: Brutal Sentencing of Irish-trained Medics

Fifteen years in jail is the extraordinarily brutal sentence meted out by a special military court in Bahrain to medics (surgeons, nurse and paramedics) -several of whom trained in Ireland and worked for years in Irish hospitals.

Every Human Rights organisation world-wide has unequivocally condemned these sentences as outrageous and unprecedented and an attack on the  fundamental ethics of healthcare.  They have also

pointed out the total lack of due process involved in what can only be described as a travesty of the  justice system, involving what the same Human Rights groups have judged to be manufactured trumped –up charges. Even before sentencing, during their  incarceration  over several months, there is  

compelling evidence from the medics involved and their families that they endured repeated brutalities, including blindfolding and  beatings  as well as many other forms threatening,  degrading and humiliating  treatment. Many went on hunger strike as their only remaining form of protest in the face of what was essentially torture.

Now that the vengefulness of the Bahraini regime is evident for all the world to witness , it is morally incumbent on Irish citizens-and particularly anyone involved in healthcare-  to add their voices to the increasing international  clamour to secure the reversal of these sentences.

It is particularly important that all medical, nursing and paramedical professional organisations in Ireland declare in the most vigorous manner that they abhor the actions of the Bahraini regime, and  enjoin with their international colleagues in condemning this victimisation of healthcare professionals who were doing their duty in treating the victims of civil strife. It would be shameful if we merely ‘’note the sentences’.’ as the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland so disappointingly did in their current press release when commenting on the savage sentences inflicted on their own  surgical graduates, who looked to them for help. But more than robust statements may be needed. Every other legitimate form of pressure must be exerted nationally and internationally to protest against a barbarous precedent that, in reality, constitutes an attack on all healthcare professionals trying to do their duty.

Professor MX FitzGerald

Blackrock

Co Dublin

THIS is what Women in Bahrain are forced to endure

http://s1300.vuclip.com/05/bd/05bda1a1f5028fdf7a2f459bd106fb6a/ba124807/BAHRAINIWOMEN_05bd_w_2.3gp?c=297402668&u=322214649&s=BMrCVH

Statement by Bahraini Medics sentenced on 29th September 2011: 1

Statement by Bahraini Medics sentenced on 29th September 2011:

On September 29, 2011, a group of 20 Medics was sentenced in the Bahrain National Safety Court, a military court, to between five and 15 years in prison each.

During the times of unrest in Bahrain, we honored our medical oath to treat the wounded and save lives. And as a result, we are being rewarded with unjust and harsh sentences.

Thirteen Bahraini medics out of 20 received a sentence of 15 years in prison. The charges that we have
being accused of are absolutely ludicrous. We are highly professional and experienced medics and specialists, and we categorically deny all charges against us.

This is the first time in the history of medicine that the medical profession has been attacked on such a large scale by any government.

Our ordeal began in mid‐March when some of us were first abducted, detained for up to 6 months before we were released in early‐September on bail.

All of us were subject to maltreatment, humiliation and violence.

Most of us experienced severe forms of psychological and physical abuse during interrogation. We were coerced into making false confessions and some of these were video‐taped by the authorities.

We believe that the whole point was to punish, intimidate and degrade us during our detention.

Our sentences were a fait accompli! The government and the military judge had made up their minds that we were guilty and our sentences were preordained. The trials we have been going through are nothing but a
playing card in a game of politics.

The 40 defense witnesses who appeared in court did not make any difference to the judge and his verdict.

We believe that the message the government is trying to deliver to the people of Bahrain and to the world through our case is that treating wounded protesters is a crime, and telling the stories of what we witnessed in the media is an even larger crime.

We have been denied the basic right to a fair trial. Most of the evidence presented to the judges in court relied on forced confessions and ‘secret sources.’

The military court heard from 26 defence witnesses, but the judges did not seem to take into account the evidence provided by any of them.

The marks and bruises on the bodies of the detained medics was Statement by Bahraini Medics sentenced on sufficient evidence of torture and maltreatment. But when the lawyers and
their defendants tried to deliver this evidence in court, their request was denied by the judge. That is only one example showing the unfair treatment the doctors experienced.

After we were all set free on bail by September 7, we did not talk about the pain and the suffering we endured while in detention in the hope that our release would be a turning point and the means to pave the way for the charges to be dropped. This turned out to be a mistake on our part.

The blanket nature of the sentencing proves that these verdicts were preordained and politically motivated. And no longer will we keep quiet.

We condemn the local media’s fabrications to distort the events that occurred inside the hospital during the unrest and tarnish the image of professional medical workers who worked tirelessly to treat the sick and
wounded.

We are a group of professional doctors, nurses and paramedics who have worked hard over many years to reach the highest standards in the medical profession. We are proud to have served the needs of all communities across Bahrain.

Our only crime was that during the unrest earlier this year we were outspoken witnesses to the bloodshed and the brutal treatment by the security forces.

We tried our best to provide medical care to all of those who entered Salmaniya Medical Hospital ‐ the main hospital in the country and other places across Bahrain. And as a result, we are now paying a heavy price.


We know for a fact that the international community, particularly human rights organizations and doctors all over the world followed our case closely and spoke out on our behalf when we were mistreated and silenced.

We are sincerely grateful to them and to everybody who has supported us from the beginning. We have decided to break the wall of fear and take a step forward to share with the world our stories of struggle, pain and suffering.

We urge you all to continue supporting our fight for justice and freedom. We pray to God Almighty that our families find the strength to make it through this difficult time, especially our children who have had to endure
the unnecessary and painful absence of their parents.

We would like to thank our colleagues who continue to provide health care to those who are in need, despite the extremely difficult and dangerous situation in Bahrain.

We are confident that in the end justice will prevail and every free soul in this country will breathe fresh air of freedom.

List of Bahraini Medics sentenced on 29th September 2011:

1 Ali Al Ekri M Consultant, Orthopedic Surgeon, 44, 15 years in prison

2 Ali Al Sadadi M Kitchen worker in Salmaniya Medical Complex, 15 years in prison

3 Nader Dewani, M Consultant, Pediatrician, 53, 15 years in prison

4 Ahmed Omran, M Consultant, Family physician, 47, 15 years in prison

5 Mahmood Asghar, M Consultant, Pediatric Surgeon, 40, 15 years in prison

6 Ibrahim Al Demistani, M Senior Nurse, 43, 15 years in prison

7 Rula Al Saffar F Head of nursing society, Assistant professor in College of Health Sciences, 48, 15 years  in prison

8 Abdulkhaleq Al Oraibi, M Consultant, Rheumatologist, 39, 15 years in prison

9 Ghassan Dhaif M Consultant, Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeon, 45, 15 years in prison

10 Basim Dhaif M Consultant, Orthopedic Surgeon, 47, 15 years in prison

11 Sayed Marhoon Al Wedaei M, Ambulance Head, 36, 15 years in prison

12 Nada Dhaif F, Dentist, 39, 15 years in prison

13 Hassan Al Tublani, M ICU Consultant, 10 years in prison

14 Fatima Haji, F Rheumatologist, 33, 5 years in prison

15 Deya Ibrahim, F Nurse, 5 years in prison

16 Najah Khalil, M Family physician,  5 years in prison

17 Mohammed Al Shehab, M Lab technician, 5 years in prison

18 Saeed Al Samahiji, M Ophthalmologist, 56, 10 years in prison

19 Qassim Omran, M Intensivest, 15 years in prison

20 Zahra Al Sammak, F Consultant, Anesthesiologist, 45, 5 years in prison

First Post

Introduction:

Let me be brief, I’ve been persuaded to write a blog. 
It won't be fancy. 
It will be honest.


You’re not here to read about my life and I’m not here to be sociable. I use social media for ‘anti-social’ purposes and am singularly interested in exploiting it in order to draw attention to Human Rights aberrations. 


So don’t try to sell me anything and don’t be insulted if I don’t dignify Trolls with retort or repudiation. 
I’m not here to waste time. 
It is short and it costs lives.

I work hard speaking to people. Its also called 'Advocacy'.
I reason with them and put them in touch with eachother to build a network of solidarity. 
My associates are not only ‘concerned’ witnesses – they also strategise and encourage eachother to be outspoken in defence of Human Rights, and they engage Actively in a Practical way – in whatever their capacity is. 


I am a Messenger too. 
In this business it can be prohibitive for individuals to communicate personally; so I deliver updates and information where required.

All of my resources and energy are currently focused on Bahrain and to some extent the greater ‘Arab Seasons’. ( – you can use that if you like!) 


In general my blog posts will be

• my opinion on current and recent events
• updates of my efforts
• transcripts of conversations and 
• testimonies of witnesses and victims who are known personally to me.

I verify my sources and work with some incredible heroes..... and many who are not yet ...... but will be soon. 


You can follow me on twitter at @taraaogrady