THE ROYAL College of Surgeons has defended its reaction to the jailing of six Irish-trained doctors in Bahrain saying it used “below- the-radar” contacts rather than high-profile opposition.
Prof Eilís McGovern said “the positive response that has emanated from Bahrain” had resulted from two types of external influence – “public high-profile” and “low-key, below-the-radar use of connections”.
The College of Surgeons had come under pressure for its failure to take a strong public stance after the jailing of 20 medical staff in Bahrain following pro-democracy demonstrations. Six of the individuals were educated at the medical college in Dublin.
Earlier this week, the public prosecutor in Bahrain ordered a retrial in a civilian court and the medics were released from jail.
The college had invested €60 million in a medical school campus in Bahrain and had been criticised for its stance on the jailed medics by medical and nursing organisations, as well as by human rights organisations.
At the joint committee on health and children yesterday, Prof McGovern compared the situation in Bahrain to that in Northern Ireland.
“It took many years of dialogue and reconciliation to come to the situation we have there now. If it was to be relied entirely on a high-profile approach the progress would not have been made.”
The college felt the best way it could influence what happened was through using connections built up over 30 years in Bahrain.
There was an “either/or” about whether to take a high-profile or a low-key approach. “If we very overtly use the high-visibility, high-profile role then we will have our connections cut with the people on the ground in influential positions.”
Prof McGovern said the high-profile approach taken by others was “complementary” to the college’s approach. The positive response from Bahrain, including the release of the medics and the transfer of their trials to a civilian court, was a result of the combination of the two types of influences.
Senator John Crown had called on the college to make “a forthright statement” specifically “supporting the people and urging their release”.
