Caroline Spillane, Medical Council

The heads of seven prominent Bahraini human rights organisations have expressed their doubts that the Irish Medical Council (IMC) has the capacity to consider the accreditation of the RCSI-Bahrain campus and RCSI-affiliated hospitals in the “repressive” environment of the small Persian Gulf state, despite assurances to the contrary by the IMC.

In a joint letter to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Education and Social Protection, Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain, the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights, European-Bahraini Organisation for Human Rights, Bahraini Human Rights Observatory and Bahrain Salam For Human Rights urged that proactive steps be taken to ensure human rights standards were factored into the upcoming accreditation visit.

“Without actively contending with Bahrain’s restrictive environment through prior engagement with human right experts, the Council’s visit risks becoming a case of hear-no-evil with status quo risks being legitimated through Irish accreditation. We believe that a robust accreditation with a human rights focus would provide a strong platform for reform and would strengthen Ireland’s reputation as a transnational educator.”

As reported last week in IMT, the Medical Council CEO Caroline Spillane has confirmed that a committee of experienced assessors has been selected to conduct the accreditation visit.

She had previously advised the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection in April that globally recognised standards were used in all accreditation visits, in line with the Medical Practitioners Act 2007 and Medical Council rules.

The groups want the Council to include doctors and ex-students who have been affected by violations allegedly occurring since February 2011, including Dr Ali Al Ekri, who is currently serving a five-year sentence for treating injured protesters.

lloyd.mudiwa@imt.ie