Blog
Published on March 26, 2012
Last year, the Bahraini regime detained, tortured, and convicted in sham trials 20 medical professional who had treated wounded pro-democracy protestors and then spoken to the international press about the crackdown. Dr. Nada Dhaif, a mother of two young daughters, is one of the 20.
Bahrain security forces tortured Nada. They initially held her in solitary confinement for twenty-two days and subjected her to unrelenting physical and verbal abuse—including electrocution. Later, she was made to sign a false confession admitting to hatred for the regime, criminally supporting the protesters, and violating her Hippocratic Oath.
Now released, Nada is appealing the 15-year prison sentence that resulted from an unjust trial in military court.
Despite the danger, Nada continues to speak out and has established herself as one of the Kingdom’s most prominent human rights activists. She recently founded and is Chair of the Bahrain Rehabilitation & Anti Violence Organization (BRAVO), an NGO that treats survivors of torture. She also has been working with Human Rights First to document human rights violations by the regime.
Nada is the only one of the 20 medics allowed to travel. Human Rights First is bringing her to the United States this week to speak with officials from the Obama Administration and members of U.S. Congress. She will urge them to speak out against the crackdown.
