Wednesday, March 17th was the “Day of Cleansing”. That was the phrase used in the 3rd statement, broadcast by

 Ministry of Defense spokesman on BTV, to describe the day: “The Security Forces and National Guards, aided by the Bahrain Defense Force began today, Wednesday, March 17th 2011, the process of cleansing the GCC Roundabout, the Financial Harbor area, the Salmaniya Hospital and their surroundings”. The term ‘cleansing’ here meant no less than genocide. Under that sphere of action, was the call for the forces of Peninsula Shield, and under that sphere of action was the declaration of the Emergency Law, with scandalous disregard to laws stipulated in the human rights treaties and the international agreements ratified by the Bahraini Government. In the process of‘cleansing’, only acts of violation and law of the jungle would be seen.

Before 6 o’clock that morning, Zahraa left to Salmaniya Hospital and Ghassan stayed at home. “There was no one

 in the hospital surroundings. When I parked my car, the Apaches were hovering very low over my head. I had never seen war before, but what I saw at that moment was nothing but war. I felt melancholic and heavy-hearted. I hurried to the operation theatre. The nurses there told me that the Roundabout was attacked in the early morning hours. They started preparing the operation room for taking casualties and I went down to the Emergency Department to get ready for incoming cases. The doctors at the Emergency were in a deplorable state of fatigue and exhaustion. They told me about the cases they treated as a result of the military attack on Sitra the night before. Some of them said: ‘Had we not been here, the death toll would have been in dozens’. The doctors were not able to leave hospital that night and so they had to stay there until the next morning. In effect, they were not allowed to leave hospital for three more days. It was like death.”

Zahraa continues her story. “We remained waiting for casualties. None arrived. We asked about the ambulances and were told that four of them had their tires punctured by snipers’ bullets, and the ones that went to the Roundabout were not allowed anywhere near. Gradually, we began seeing the military forces surrounding the hospital. They burst into the courtyard and emergency parking area and attacked the people who were gathering there since last night. They smashed and destroyed everything in their way, even the medical tent erected two days ago and fully equipped for receiving and treating casualties. They smashed all the cars parked in the hospital parking and even the cars parked in the hospital surroundings. They closed all hospital gates to prevent anyone from coming in or going out of the hospital. People suffocating from heavy tear gas shelling fled into Emergency. We watched all of this madness through the glass windows looking outside in all directions and on all Salmaniya hospital floors. We saw the military planting arms and guns in cars and filming their fabrications. Everyone watched with surprise and terror. What we saw could never be anything but a cleansing war. Indeed, cleansing of any sign or feature of humanity.”

The hospital was besieged from all directions and the gates were closed. No one could come in nor go out. The

 military forces wreaked havoc in the emergency parking areas, breaking and smashing anything coming in their way. No move, no breathing, nothing was allowed. We received distress calls from all directions: Health Centers, private hospitals, but no ambulance was allowed out through any of the gates. We received calls from Health Centers reporting critical cases which needed more sophisticated procedures and facilities. They had cases of bleeding and needed blood; there were deaths and corpuses; Dr. Khuloud Al-Durazi called from Budaiya Health Centre asking for equipment necessary for a woman in labor. No one was allowed in or out. At the time, Dr. Nazar Al-Baharna was Minister of Health. We heard that he had met with the Head of Security Forces to request permission for ambulances to leave to bring in the emergencies and critical cases.”

Zahraa goes on, “At 12 noon, and after many exhausting attempts on the part of the Health Minister, a number of doctors were allowed to leave for the aid of those cases, however, on the condition that they left only in the ambulances of the Military Hospital. We were apprehensive of a deception. The male doctors told us to stay and that only men should go. Indeed, there was a deception. The doctors were beaten and profanely insulted at the gate on their way out. One of the doctors had a broken finger. Then they were allowed to exit after one of the military forces said they had permission to get out. The first ambulance that was allowed to leave brought in 5 casualties from Budaiya Health Centre.