[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 56 (Friday, April 15, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E735-E736]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               MEDICAL COMMUNITY UNDER ATTACK IN BAHRAIN

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JAMES P. McGOVERN

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, April 15, 2011

  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, I would like to express my deep concern 
regarding a serious human rights crisis that is currently unfolding in 
Bahrain, a strategic ally of the United States in the Middle East.
  As Physicians for Human Rights has reported, the medical community in 
that country has come under attack by Bahrani authorities during the 
currently ongoing unrest, and doctors, nurses and emergency medical 
technicians have been arrested, detained, harassed

[[Page E736]]

and prevented from fulfilling their ethical obligations of providing 
medical care.
  In doing so, the government of Bahrain is violating well-established 
laws of medical neutrality.
  Just this Monday, April 11, at least six physicians were arrested by 
the government of Bahrain in its sweeping campaign against medical 
professionals over the past several weeks. Those arrested on that day 
include Dr. Abdulshaheed Fadhel, Dr. Jawad Khamees, Dr. Zahra Alsammak, 
Dr. Arif Rajab, Dr. Nabeel Hameed, and Dr. Nabeel Tammam.
  I call on the State Department to do everything in its power to 
facilitate the release of these individuals and to bring an end to 
similar attacks on the medical profession in Bahrain.

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