Thirteen medics were sentenced to 15 years in jail for their roles in pro-reform protests crushed in mid-March, two others to 10 years and five to five years, the BNA state news agency cited a prosecutor as saying.
The medics all worked at the Salmaniya Medical Complex in Manama, which was stormed by security forces after they drove protesters on March 16 out of the nearby Pearl Square - the focal point of protests inspired by uprisings that have swept the Arab world.
The medics included 13 doctors, one dentist, nurses and paramedics. Many of them spoke to the international media about the crackdown on the mostly Shia protesters.
The convictions of the medics comes one day after the convictions of 21 opposition leaders, clerics, activists and bloggers were upheld, the Washington Post reported.
The national safety court in which they were tried was set up under a three-month quasi-emergency law declared by King Hamad ahead of the crackdown on the protests led by the Shiite majority of the Sunni-ruled Gulf nation.
London-based advocacy group Amnesty International termed the verdicts against the medics a "travesty of justice."
"We are deeply disturbed by the sentencing today of 20 medical professionals by the National Safety Court in Bahrain," deputy State Department spokesman Mark Toner said in a statement.
The US's 5th fleet is hosted in the Gulf State which sits just across the water from Shia Iran. Keen to exert influence in the region, which has grown since the US invasion of Iraq, members of Iran's parliament yesterday urged the UN to launch missions in Bahrain, as well as Yemen, the Fars News agency reports.
An editorial in the Washington Post called on the Obama administration to examine its relationship with the regime, not least following the Pentagon's recent notification of plans to sell armoured cars and anti-tank missiles to Bahrain worth US$53m.
"We continue to urge the Bahraini government to abide by its commitment to transparent judicial proceedings, including a fair trial, access to attorneys, and verdicts based on credible evidence conducted in full accordance with Bahraini law and Bahrain's international legal obligations," Toner said
Toner also said Washington was concerned about the "trials of civilians, including medical personnel, in military courts and the fairness of those proceedings".
"We call on the government of Bahrain and all citizens to create a climate conducive for reconciliation, meaningful dialogue, and reform that ... will bring peaceful change that is responsive to the aspirations of all Bahrainis," he added.
