Submission to the Joint Committee on Education and Social Protection
Subject: Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland – Medical University Bahrain.
Name: Dr Gearóid Ó Cuinn, Co-Director, Irish Lawyers for Human Rights.
Address: Lancaster University Law School, Bowland North, Lancaster University, UK, LA1
4YN
Email: gocuinn@ceartaslaw.org
Tel. Irl: 0860890819, UK: (+44) (0)7521203427
Areas of Expertise:
I have worked in the fields of biology and human rights law, my activities have included:
- Academic Fellow, Lancaster University Law School (current);
- Co-Director, Ceartas – Irish Lawyers for Human Rights (current);
- Wellcome Trust PhD scholar, School of Law, University of Nottingham;
- Human rights researcher, Al Marsad, Centre for Human Rights in the Golan Heights, via
Israel.
My specific expertise lies in the areas of public health governance, the interaction of
technologies and human rights, human rights law and I have a background in cancer biology.
Speaking notes for opening statement
- As RCSI-Bahrain awards Irish medical degrees. As a result Section 88 of the Medical
Practitioners Act (2007) obligates the IMC monitored and accredit RCSI-Bahrain and its
programmes education. For the purposes of accreditation the Medical Council has adopted the
World Federation for Medical Education or the WFME Standards. These standards provide a
mechanism for quality improvement in medical education. They recognise that practical
dimensions of medicine and the requirement for hands on experience in clinical tuition.
- Accreditation of RCSI-Bahrain, based on Irish standards, requires consideration of the facilities
used for clinical tuition including Bahrain’s main hospitals. As an Irish degree awarding
programme of RCSI-Bahrain must live up to the standards World Federation for Medical
Education (WFME) as these have been adopted by the Medical Council. These standards require
the locations for clinical tuition to be safe, appropriate and able to deliver training in the core
competencies of medicine, including medical ethics. Furthermore, as a public body, the Medical
Council has specific human rights obligations requiring that relevant human rights concerns are
taken into account. Ceartas submitted a report Human Rights Standards and the Accreditation
of RCSI-Bahrain highlighting how human rights standards intersect with the WFME Standards
and offer an important interpretative framework. These legal standards apply continue to apply
when the Medical Council operates outside of Irish territory given the Bahraini authorities have
invited and consented to Irish standards in the provision of medical education.
- Based on extensive research and communication with medical personnel in Bahrain Ceartas
has identified the following areas of concern relevant to the accreditation process and the
human rights obligations of the Medical Council:
a) Continued persecution of medical professionals for their treatment of protesters.
b) Alleged torture and ill-treatment of patients within hospitals used by the RCSI in Bahrain.
c) Discrimination in the provision of health care at sites of clinical tuition used by RCSI-Bahrain.
d) Discriminatory employment practices in the Bahraini health sector.
- In reaction to the Ceartas report senior RCSI staff have cast doubt over the allegations of rights
violations within Bahraini hospitals in the Irish press. At the same time independent human
rights organisations, Médecins Sans Frontière and the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture
continue to be denied access to Bahrain. The Bahrain Centre for Human Rights has published
reports relating to Bahrain’s healthcare systems providing testimonies, photographic evidence
and analysis, including the following:
o Medical Access and Breach of Medical Neutrality in Bahrain (8 April 2013)
o Sickle Cell Disease and The Government Crackdown (14 July 2013)
- Ceartas submits that Irish standards are not suited the institutionally discriminatory and
militarised environment of Bahrain’s health facilities.
Recommendations for action

Ceartas respectfully suggests that the Committee recommends to the Minister for
Education and Skills that RCSI-Bahrain falls short of Irish accreditation standards and
this situation requires prompt and appropriate action in accordance with the
Medical Practitioners Act 2007. Likewise the Committee should bring to the
Ministers attention the adequacy of other streams of Irish accreditation including
NUI and Quality Qualifications Ireland.

We urge the Committee to invite the Medical Council to explain how it intends to
approach the accreditation of RCSI-Bahrain as well as the human rights concerns
linked to sites of clinical tuition used by RCSI-Bahrain and the WFME standards
Supporting documents
-
Human Rights Standards and the Accreditation of RCSI-Bahrain Ceartas 2013.
‘IMC is urged to reject Bahrain accreditation’ Irish Medical Times June 7, 2013.
‘No gulf between the RCSI colleges’ Irish Medical Times June 28, 2013.
‘Rights abuses linked to Irish surgical college in Bahrain’ The Lancet June 1, 2013.