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Bahrain: Thursday 14 July

Thursday 14 July, Manama, Bahrain

As we visited the Salmaniya Hospital on Thursday morning we were joined by Marian Harkin MEP who was officially representing the ALDE Group from the European Parliament where she has been playing an important role in raising the question of the imprisoned doctors.

We were then very pleased to have the opportunity to meet with Dr Fatima Al Balushi, the Minister for Human Rights and Social Development and acting Minister for Health, as well as a number of officials from other departments. We urged her to do what she could to secure the release of the fourteen medical personnel who remain in prison and stressed that such a humanitarian gesture would be very significant step towards healing the wounds to Bahrain's reputation. We warmly welcomed the Minister's undertaking to raise once more for consideration the question of the release on bail of the remaining medical personnel with King Hamad.

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Bahrain : Wednesday 13 July

Wednesday 13 July, Manama, Bahrain

It is always good to be back in Bahrain and meet with good friends and fantastic human rights defenders including Nabeel Rajab, Mohammed Al-Maskati and Abdullah Alderazi. We also meet with the distinguished editor and journalist Mansoor Al-Jamri.

We have a very impressive delegation led by Professor Damian McCormack who has done so much to galvanise the Irish and international medical community on the imprisoned medical personnel. The former Minister of Foreign Affairs David Andrews makes a big impression and draws on huge experience. Senator Averil Power who has been raising the plight of the doctors in the Irish Parliament arrived with a letter of support from Tanaiste and Minister of Foreign Affairs Eamon Gilmore. The quiet wisdom and dignity of Professor Eoin O'Brien, who will write an article in The Lancet on our visit, is a huge asset. And the tireless energy and goodwill of our own Khalid Ibrahim is invaluable.

Our main purpose was to meet with the families of the detained doctors and some of the recently released medical personnel and it was hugely emotional to be welcomed so warmly be these courageous and dedicated people.

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Iran: Human rights defender Ms Nasrin Sotoudeh sentenced to 11 years in prisonposted on: 2011/01/12

Human rights defender Ms Nasrin Sotoudeh has been sentenced to 11 years in prison, and banned from practicing as a lawyer and leaving the country for 20 years after an allegedly unfair trial.

Further Information

Nasrin Sotoudeh is a prominent human rights lawyer, who in particular has worked with juvenile prisoners facing the death penalty as well as prisoners of conscience; her past clients have included Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi as well as a number of political prisoners who were taken into custody during the unrest that followed the disputed Iranian presidential election in June 2009.

She is also a member of the Defenders of Human Rights Centre and the Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child. Nasrin Sotoudeh has been the subject of a previous Front Line Urgent Appeal dated 8 September 2010.

On 9 January 2011, Nasrin Sotoudeh's lawyers were informed that she had been sentenced by the 26th Branch of the Revolutionary Court to 11 years in prison and banned from both working as a lawyer and leaving Iran for 20 years.

Uzbekistan: Mutabar Tadjibaeva in continued detentionposted on: 2008/02/26

Mutabar Tadjibaeva founded the Fiery Hearts Club in Uzbekistan to work for women’s rights. She was arrested on her way to Dublin for the Front Line, Dublin Platform for Human Rights Defenders in 2005 and sentenced to 8 years in prison.