Report of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry

Chapter V — Events at Salmaniya Medical Complex
lower abdomen and pelvis, where he was wounded. The next day he was
taken to the sixth floor of the hospital and told that he was under arrest.
794. Another individual stated that he was taken to SMC after sustaining
injuries from an automobile accident. 421 On 18 March 2011, he was
interrogated by a number of military and security officers about the nature of
his injuries. He claimed that officers asked each patient about their injuries
and how they had sustained them. The patient in the bed next to him replied
that he had sustained his injuries from birdshot, and officers immediately
began to shout, curse and beat him. The individual alleged that the officers
made all of the patients in the room get out of their beds and move into the
hallway, where they were forced to stand against the wall for nearly four
hours. He claimed that the officers slapped and beat the patients. At midnight
the patients were allowed to go back to their hospital beds. He stated that he
was then interrogated by police officers for approximately two hours. On 20
March 2011, the individual left SMC even though he had not completed
treatment, because he was afraid of arrest or further abuse.
795. One doctor working at SMC during the events of February/March
2011, alleged that at 09:30 on 16 March 2011 she witnessed 20-30 armed and
masked men in blue uniforms enter SMC through the entrance to the
Emergency Section. 422 On 17 March, she was doing her rounds of the
hospital when a masked police officer prevented her from entering an area of
the sixth floor of SMC. She claimed that officers were checking identification
and allowing only a limited number of physicians and nurses (only those who
had patients in those wards and were on call at the time) past a security point
on the sixth floor.
796. A GoB spokeswoman stated that on 24 March 2011 police and
military forces had to surround, enter and take over SMC because:
Salmaniya was effectively being used as a co-ordination centre by
protesters and had been overrun by political and sectarian
activity… This includes the spreading of malicious propaganda by
several senior members of the medical staff and the blocking of
medical care, severely interrupting and endangering lives. 423
797. The BDF did not deny that detention and interrogations occurred
within SMC and that some of the patients were transferred to the sixth floor,
where they were under the direct control of the BDF.
798. The BDF stated that at no point was live ammunition fired within the
complex by the military or by helicopters monitoring the situation from above.
The BDF also stated that no patients or staff members were prevented from
421 Statement provided to the Commission, 11 September 2011.
422 Statement provided to the Commission, 6 September 2011.
423 Clamp Restores Hospital Order, Gulf Daily News (24 March 2011), http://www.gulf-dailynews.com/NewsDetails.aspx?storyid=302433
accessed 5 November 2011.
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