DUBAI: The Bahrain government has denied the entry into the country of a leading American human rights activist, local media reported on Sunday. The activist, Richard Sollom, was hoping to observe trials of medical workers and activists in the country, and came as Manama pledged to be transparent with its human rights. Sollom, the deputy president of the US-based Physicians for Human Rights, was quoted by The Associated Press as saying officials at the airport “gave no reason for their refusal” for entry into the small Gulf country, still embattled by protests against the ruling monarchy. At least 40 people have been killed by government forces since protest broke out in February 2011 demanding greater rights for the Shia majority vis-a-vis the Sunni ruling monarchy. Sollom said that the Bahrain government does not want observers at the trial for doctors and nurses who treated victims of the government's violence, which is to resume on Monday. International human rights organizations have harshly criticized the prosecution of the health professionals who were working at the state-run Salmaniya Medical Center during the massive protests in February and March. “I am quite stunned. This was the first time a member of an international rights organization came to Bahrain after authorities promised to respect human rights and told us we can come and see for ourselves,” Sollom said in a telephone interview after he landed in Dubai Sunday evening. “We can see now that not much has changed,” he added. Sollom is an American citizen and was traveling on his US passport. The move to refuse his entry has left a number of Bahraini activists frustrated over the government's apparent lip service to human rights. “We have seen this before, a lot of promises and then they refuse to follow their own promises,” Waleed Abdullah, a 24-year-old researcher and activist, told Bikyamasr.com via telephone from the Bahraini capital. He added that there will be large protests against the trial in the coming days, “and I hope it will galvanize the global community to see what the King is doing to his people.” BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/6ohPN Tags: Activist, Deported, featured, Richard Sollom Section: Bahrain, Latest News
