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.
