Bahraini medical staff urge UN probe

A group of Bahraini doctors and nurses sentenced to long prison terms for curing those wounded in the anti-government protests appealed to the UN chief to investigate abuse and judicial violations by the Manama regime.They raised the request in a statement issued by 20 medical staff in Bahrain on Saturday after questions by the UN human rights office about the fairness of their trial before a special security court, the Ahlul Bayt news agency reported. The group was sentenced on Thursday to between five and 15 years of imprisonment. Charges included attempting to topple the Persian Gulf kingdom rulers and spreading "fabricated" stories. The medics stated that they are being punished for speaking out against the crackdown by the Al-Khalifa regime on popular protests. Horrifying evidence has recently shed light on the brutality of the Bahraini regime's crackdown on the medical staff. Harrowing testimony of torture, intimidation and humiliation from a doctor arrested in the crackdown on medical staff in Bahrain has revealed the lengths to which the regime's security forces are prepared to go to quash pro-democracy protests. Interviews obtained by The Independent from inside Bahrain tell of ransacked hospitals and of terrified medical staff beaten, interrogated and forced into signing false confessions. Many have been detained, their fate unknown. Anti-government protesters have been holding peaceful demonstrations across Bahrain since mid-February, calling for an end to the Al Khalifa dynasty's over-40-year rule. Violence against the defenseless people escalated after a Saudi-led conglomerate of police, security and military forces from the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (PGCC) member states - Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Qatar - were dispatched to the tiny Persian Gulf kingdom on March 13 to help Manama crack down on peaceful protestors. Yet, protests and rallies continued throughout the country in defiance of the martial law put in place by Manama. People say they will continue protests until the regime collapses.