Last week, Human Rights Watch published an excellent report on the attack against health workers, health facilities, and patients by Bahrain’s government during the country’s recent democratic unrest. Here is the punchline:
“Since the start of the crisis in Bahrain, Human Rights Watch has documented an alarming pattern of attacks, mainly by Bahraini troops and security forces, against medical workers, medical institutions, and patients suspected of participating in protests, primarily on the basis of the injuries they had sustained. At first the attacks appeared aimed at preventing medical personnel from treating injured protesters, but once the crackdown revived in mid-March security forces increasingly targeted medical personnel and institutions themselves, accusing some doctors, nurses, and paramedics of criminal activity as well as involvement with anti-government protests.”
The report goes on to provide detailed accounts of the allegations, and it is damning. I encourage you to read the report for yourself. One point worth noting: from the accounts it is clear is that the attacks were not the result of unclear rules of engagement or overzealous security officers, but rather a sanctioned operation by the government of Bahrain to treat its own health system as an enemy of the state. This type of official “civil war” against one organ of a government is rare in middle income, functioning states and speaks to the brutality of the crackdown. In the long term, we should expect to see the quality of Bahrain’s health workforce decline as health workers avail themselves of the global demand for medical professionals and emigrate.
Christopher R. Albon is a political science Ph.D. specializing in armed conflict, public health, human security, and health diplomacy.
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