Manchester United plan to press ahead with a soccer school in Bahrain hosted by their former striker Denis Law, despite claims that a female doctor in the country was beaten by security forces after asking the club for a minute's silence in memory of a 15-year-old boy killed in the 2011 uprising while wearing a United shirt.

The club said they had taken advice from the Foreign Office and the club's insurers, Aon, before deciding to go ahead with the soccer school in Manama. The event was organised in partnership with the local Bahraini mobile telecoms sponsor Viva but will take place this weekend against a backdrop of renewed concern over Formula One's decision to hold a race there in the light of human rights concerns.

One of the directors of the campaign group Human Rights First has called on Law to meet Dr Fatima Haji, a rheumatologist at Bahrain's Salmaniya medical complex, after she was said to be tortured partly because of her perceived association with Manchester United.

"While Law is there promoting the school, it might be nice if he went to see the family of Ahmad Shams, the 15-year-old boy who was shot by the police, according to his family, while wearing a Man United shirt in March 2011, or popped in to see Dr Fatima Haji, one of the medics in Bahrain who was tortured and interrogated about her connection to Man United," wrote Brian Dooley, a director of the New York-based organisation Human Rights First, in a blog.

According to Dooley, Dr Haji, who was sentenced to five years in custody for treating injured prisoners during the uprising before being acquitted last year, said: "I was blindfolded and handcuffed with my hands behind my back, and beaten. A man asked me: 'What is your relationship with Alex Ferguson?' I was shocked and figured out they had gone through my emails.

"A female officer hit me on the head on both sides at the same time – she was wearing what I later found out was a special electrical band on her hands, and she electrocuted me a couple of times. I felt a shockwave through my head. It was very painful and the whole world was spinning."

Hadj, along with others, had written to Manchester United to ask whether they would consider holding a minute's silence as a tribute to Ahmed after the 15-year-old fan was killed.

"Along with dozens of other medics she was arrested after treating injured protesters and tortured in custody. But her interrogation was a bit different; she had written the email asking for the minute's silence and then deleted it, knowing it might be incriminating," said Dooley.

"When she was arrested on 17 April her laptop was taken too, and a few days later – with tragic efficiency – Man United responded to her email, which her interrogators then saw."

A spokesman for Manchester United said that the club extended its condolences to Ahmed's family – and any others affected by the unrest – but had received assurances over the safety of Law and its staff and was planning to go ahead with the trip as planned.

"We condemn violent acts by any side and offer our condolences to the family and friends of those affected. We have taken advice from the Foreign Office and Aon and we are comfortable with the trip going ahead."