THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: The full story of how thuggish Bahraini security forces surrounded and took over a hospital treating injured protesters has emerged from eye-witness testimony of one of the medical staff involved.
Security forces burst into operating theatres, beat staff and searched from ward to ward for doctors according to the first detailed accounts of a violent government crackdown at the hospital in Manama.
Opposition leaders in the small island kingdom described the attack by security troops as a "crime against humanity" and the United Nations said it seemed to have broken international laws.
Now a member of staff, who spoke to The Sunday Telegraph in secret for fear of retribution from government forces, has described the full sequence of events which caused outrage around the world.
"They are really after us," he said. "There's been a lot of physical abuse and humiliation of doctors. They treat us as if we were terrorists."
Salmaniya medical centre, which had been treating people hurt in Bahrain's street clashes with government troops, was surrounded by security forces last week during a violent crackdown on a month-long, anti-government movement which has been calling for a constitutional monarchy and equal rights for Bahrain's Shia Muslim majority, which has been marginalised by the ruling Sunni Muslim elite.
The hospital had become one of two focal points for the protest movement, inspired by other Arab uprisings, along with nearby Pearl Roundabout, where demonstrators had repeatedly gathered and set up camp.
Security in the country, which is home to up to 10,000 British expatriates, dramatically decreased last week when thousands poured onto the streets after weeks of stalemate over the protesters' demands. » | Ben Farmer, Manama | Sunday, March 20, 2011
