Dr Fatima Al Baloushi said that the recommendations made in it were very important for the country. “A working team that will be created by the cabinet will look at the over 20 recommendations and put a time line on implementing it.”
“A National Commission for Implementation of the BICI report will be created to work out the mandates of the first recommendation,” the minister, said. She called the process of implementing the report a challenge that the nation will meet and overcome.
“The commission did find that the Salmaniya Medical Complex was politicised by certain medics and that some of the medical personnel had political ties with the opposition. It found evidence to the fact that these personnel pursued a political agenda,” she said.
“There were religious signs inside the hospital. Protestors and medical personnel controlled some areas of the hospital, with some of the protestors discriminating against the expatriate patients,” she said. As a result some of these patients were assaulted and that is proven in the report, she added. Some other Bahraini patients, according to the minister, were turned away from receiving any medical care and some medics intentionally spread false information about the events at the Salmaniya Medical Complex.
Dr Fatima said that some of the medics were found to violate the code of ethics by allowing media to film inside the emergency room, in total violation of ethics. She also added some other issues were raised but they could not be proven.
Overall we welcome the report in the way that it portrayed the facts and as to what happened in the hospital, she added.
The report also indicated that it did not find any evidence related to the involvement of the GCC Shield units that was in Bahrain starting March 14, 2011 in any human rights violations.