172 medical professionals, including two medical organisations call for Dr ‘Ali al-‘Ekri’s immediate release on the fifth anniversary of his arrest for treating injured protesters and criticisng the excessive force used by the armed forces against them.
172 medical professionals, including the Irish Nursing and Midwives Organisation and the Irish Institute for Trauma and Orthopaedic surgery call for Dr ‘Ali al-‘Ekri’s immediate release. Dr ‘Ali al-‘Ekri trained side by side with Irish doctors and now medical professionals from across Ireland and beyond stand in solidarity with him on the fifth anniversary of his arrest. Dr ‘Ali al-‘Ekri was arrested on 17 March while operating on a child in Salmaniya Medical Complex in Manama after he treated injured peaceful protesters and vocally denounced the execessive force used by the armeed forces against peaceful protesters during the February – March 2011 protests to international media.
48 doctors, nurses and paramedics were arrested in March 2011. Dr ‘Ali al-‘Ekri is the only medical professional still in prison. He must be immediately released!
Open Letter
To the King of Bahrain, His Majesty Shaikh Hamad bin ‘Issa Al Khalifa and the Minister of Interior Shaikh Rashid bin ‘Abdullah Al Khalifa
Your Majesty,
The undersigned medical professionals, together with Amnesty International, write to you to express our concern that Dr ‘Ali ‘Esa Mansoor al-‘Ekri remains in prison, held solely for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression and assembly.
Amnesty International has adopted Dr ‘Ali al-‘Ekri as a prisoner of conscience and believes that the real reason for targeting him was his vocal denunciation of the excessive force to the international media used by the armed forces against peaceful protesters during the February – March 2011 protests and exercising his right to freedom of expression, assembly and association during marches and protests.
As medical professionals, we are deeply troubled that he was imprisoned for treating injured peaceful protesters and criticising the use of force on peaceful protesters seeking democratic reforms. He is a pediatric orthopedic surgeon, one of twenty medical professionals imprisoned after treating protesters during the February – March 2011 protests.
Dr ‘Ali al-‘Ekri was arrested on 17 March 2011 in an operating room while he was operating on a child at the Salmaniya Medical Complex in Manama.
During his interrogation he was tortured and otherwise ill-treated. He said he was subjected to beatings, kicking, threatened with police dogs and forced to lick the floor, the soles of their boots and forced him to eat faeces. He also reports that he was sexually molested and threatened with rape. He was also deprived of sleep for a week. He reports that he was forced to ’confess’ to possession of weapons, heading a militia and occupying the hospital.
After a grossly unfair trial he was sentenced to 15 years in prison by a military court, reduced to five years on appeal. To date, no adequate investigation is known to have taken place into his allegations of torture, despite the authorities putting in place institutions since 2012 to investigate such allegations.
Therefore, the undersigned urge the Bahraini authorities to release Dr ‘Ali ‘Esa Mansoor al-‘Ekri immediately and unconditionally and call on them to investigate his allegations of torture and other ill-treatment and bring to justice those responsible.
Yours sincerely,
Mr Paddy Kenny, President and Mr Seamus Morris, Honorary Clinical Secretary Irish Institute of Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery
Mr Edward Mathews, Director of Regulation & Social Policy Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation
Aaron Glynn Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon Our Lady’s Hospital, Navan | Aiden Jennings General practitioner (GP) | Aine Kelly Medical Senior House Officer, Beaumont Hospital, Ireland | Aisling Buckley Anaesthetic fellow, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre | Ashling Hearns Therapy Coordinator | Amal Alekri Family physician | Anne Fennessy | Aofáine Mullins Final year medical student, University College Cork | Dr Aoife Benton GP | Dr Aoife Fanning, University Hospital Limerick | Audrey Dillon | Dr Austin O’Carroll Programme Director North Dublin GP Scheme | Dr Breeda Neville GP Registrar, South West GP Training Scheme | Dr Brenda Moran GP | Dr Brendan Boland | Dr Brid McGrath HSE | Dr Brid Sheridan GP| Bryony Milner | Caoimhe McDonnell Intern, Galway University Hospital | Dr Carol Gaffney Medical SHO | Caroline Larkin Specialist Registrar in Anaesthesia, Temple Street Children’s University Hospital | Caroline Croezen CNM II St James Hospital | Dr Caroline O’Donoghue GP Registrar HSE West | Dr Catherine O’Donohoe GP | Catriona Reddin University Hospital Galway | Dr Christiana Shilling Histopathology SpR | Christina Fleming SpR General Surgery RCSI | Dr Christina Campbell Doctor HSE | Dr Ciara Cronin Surgical SHO HSE | Dr Ciara Flynn GP registrar | Dr Ciaran Leonard | Dr Claire Hannon | Dr Claire Donlan | Dr Clare Kelly GP |Clare O’Loughlin SpR General Surgery | Dr Cliona Ryan General Practitione| Dr Conor Grimes GP, Stradbally Co Laois | Cora McGreevy Consultant Physician, Mater Hospital | Prof Damian McCormack Orthopaedic and Trauma surgeon, Temple St Children’s Hospital | Daniel Lehane SHO, Cork University Hospital | David Rogers Senior Occupational Therapist,Dorset Healthcare University NHS Trust | Dr David Healy SHO medical, UHW | Dr David O’Connell GP | Deborah Eisele | Dr Declan Scanlon GP Tullamore | Dr Deirdre Searson | Mr Derek Cawley Registrar, Mater Hospital | Dermot Murphy, University Hospital Limerick | Dr Donal Daly GP | Dr John P Casey | Dr Richard O’Driscoll QLD Health, Brisbane AU | Dr Eamonn Faller GP | Ebrahim Alaradi | Eileen Cartin Psychotherapist Spirasi (Centre for the Care of Survivors of Torture)| mma Porter, Cork University Hospital | Dr Emer O’Reilly Dublin | Dr Eoin Dunphy General Practitioner MB BAO BCh MICGP Dip MSK | Dr Fareeda Al Dallal Consultant Family Physician | Dr Fergal Macnamara Registrar St Lukes Radiation Oncology Network | Dr Fiachra Lambe Doctor | Dr Fiadhnait Carroll GP trainee, Midlands GP Scheme, Naas | Dr Fintan O’Hara SHO Neurology Beaumont Hospital | Dr Fiona Dennehy MICGP | Fiona Reilly Assistant Programme Director, North Dublin GP Scheme | Dr Fionnghaile Nixon Doctor UCD / Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine | Fionnuala Kelly Orthopaedic Senior House Officer, Gold Coast University Hospital, Australia | Frances McHugh Starship Hospital Auckland | Frances O’Mahony SHO Mercy University Hospital in Cork | Dr Gabriel Beecham Senior House Officer in Anaesthesia, Coombe Women & Infants University Hospital | Dr Gareth Brady Doctor | Dr Gary Ryan Intern- Paediatrics, University Hospital Galway | Mr Gavin McHugh Orthopaedic surgeon, Sports Surgery Clinic | Dr Grace Kavanagh Medical SHO, St James Hospital | Dr Haitham Salman Physician | Hesham Alekri | Hilary Shanahan | Dr Illona Duffy GP, Monaghan | Isa Altink | Dr James McGrath GP regustrar, University hospital Waterford, Ireland | Dr James Moloney General Practitioner | Dr Janet Cumberland Paediatric emergency medicine Sheffield childrens foundation trust | Dr Jarushka Naidoo Medical oncologist | Dr Jim Harty GP Blackrock Hall Primary Care Centre | Dr Joe McAuliffe GP | Dr John McCormack The Health Centre, Rosmuc, Connemara, Co Galway | Karen Lawler | Dr Kevin Neylon GP | Kimberly Lenz | Kowshika Thavarajah | Dr Laura Cullen GP | Laura Feeley | Laura O’Doherty Trinity College Dublin | Dr Lena Murphy Examining Physician/ General Practitioner Spirasi (Centre for the Care of Survivors of Torture) | Laura MacDarby | Dr Liam Glynn Senior Lecturer, National University of Ireland Galway | Lillian Smyth Medical oncologist | Dr Lorna O’Dwyer HSE | Lorraine Mc Grath-Soo | Dr Louisa Owens Consultant in Paediatric Respiratory Medicine, Sydney Children’s hospital | Dr Louise Malone GP ICGP | Maeve Montague | Dr Máirtín Ó Maoláin | Martin Arrigan Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto | Dr Mary Greaney GP | Mary Dolan | Dr Mary Glancy GP | Dr Mary O’Donovan Wexford | Mary Ryan MPSI pharmacist, Letterkenny University Hospital | Dr Maureen Kelly Lecturer, The Medical School, NUI Galway | Meabh Hyland Medical Student St. Vincent’s Hospital Dublin | Dr Melanie Burke General practitioner | Dr Michelle O’Connor General practitioner | Dr Ming Rawat Asssistant Programme Director North Dublin GP Scheme | Dr Mohd Awang Doctor | Muiris de Bhulbh GP Extraordinaire Leixlip, Co Chill Dara | Dr Naomi Quigley Doctor, University Hospital Limerick | Nayara Sarhan | Niall Feeney | Dr Niall Kennedy SHO UCD/SVUH/Blackrock | Niamh Foley Lecturer, UCHG | Dr Niamh O’Connell GP registrar | Dr Nicholas Power Doctor, Bantry General Hospital | Nicola Cochrane ICGP | Noel Fitzpatrick Specialist Registrar, Member of the Royal College of Physicians in Ireland, Sligo University Hospital | Nollaig O’ Donohoe NHS | Dr Nicola Sweeney GP registrar | Noor Azura Noor | Mohamad Nurul Aqma Mohd Kamil | Oisín Hannigan Registrar in Medicine for the Elderly | Dr Orla Dorann GP registrar | Patrick Barry Consultant, Cork University Hospital | Paul Hill Medical Registrar Cork | Paul Healy Surgical Registrar | Dr Paul Carroll General Practitioner (Family Physician) | Dr Paul O’Reilly General Practitioner Medical Centre. Longwalk. Dundalk | Dr Peter Dunkin Consultant Anaesthetist (Retired) | Dr Philip Murphy | Dr Richard Roche Nagle GP | Dr Richard Duffy Clinical tutor in psychiatry RCSI | Rosie Mc Colgan Medical Student Trinity College Dublin | Saadah Sulong NCHD | Samantha Davis Royal College of Surgeons Ireland | Sanusha Govender Paediatric registrar, Temple street children’s hospital | Dr Ruth-Ann Keane GP registrar | Dr Sarah Murphy Doctor, HSE | Sarah Murphy | Sarah Byrne | Dr Sarah Barry | Dr Séamus McMenamin Family Doctor | Seán Egan | Simon Walsh Emergency and Retrieval consultant, Alice Springs Hospital | Dr Siofra Nic an Bhreithiun GP | Dr Sorcha Ni Loingsigh Locum Consultant | Stephen Hatton Student Doctor School of Medicine, Trinity College Dublin | Stephen Carroll Trinity College Dublin | Dr Stephen Shortall | Dr Stephen Lucey General Practioner | Dr Steve Karagiannis GP SkinCheck Ireland | Dr Tadhg O’Carroll General Practitioner, “St. Philomena’s,” Tycor, Waterford City | Taha Alderazi Consultant Neurosurgeon | Tanya Coulter Immunology Specialist Registrar Beaumont Hospital, Dublin | Dr Tommy Cashell GP | Dr Tony Laffan GP| Dr Valerie Flood GP | Dr Vincent Brett General practitioner | Dr Vinnie Wall Saint Vincent’s Hospital Dublin | Zain Mehtar Medical Officer General Surgery, Karl Bremer Hospital | Anhar Hassan
Two further actions to support Dr ‘Ali al-‘Ekri
1. Sign the online action calling for Dr ‘Ali al-‘Ekri’s release
2. Twitter is very influential in Bahrain. Tweet this Link: @moi_bahrain I demand justice for @DrAlekri imprisoned for treating&standing up for protesters in 2011 in #Bahrain.Release him immediately! Click To Tweet