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If only US medical and psychological associations would similarly investigate complicity by US medical personnel (doctors, nurses, etc.) and psychologists in US torture. It looks like it will take considerably greater pressure before US organizations like the American Psychological Association act:
Press Release
18 February 2009
Following pressure from British and international groups:
Israel Medical Association to investigate possible doctor complicity with torture of prisoners
The Ethics Board of the Israel Medical Association (IMA) has agreed to investigate cases of possible complicity with torture of prisoners following international pressure and a letter listing specific cases sent by Physicians for Human Rights - Israel (PHR-Israel) and Public Committee Against Torture Israel (PCATI). In the letter, the groups called on the IMA to investigate 6 cases where there is strong suspicion of failure on behalf of prison doctors to document and report tell-tale signs of torture on inmates' bodies and in their testimonies.
The cases described deal with inmates allegedly tortured during interrogations and doctors' subsequent physical examinations of them. These incidents raise serious questions about the prison doctors' documentation and reporting of signs of violence and torture they discovered on inmates' bodies, which were corroborated by testimonies from the inmates themselves.
In the letter PHR urged the IMA to investigate all cases to determine the identities of the doctors in question, and a full picture of all actions taken after examining the inmates. In one instance, a prison doctor failed to follow up on his written recommendation to transfer an inmate to a hospital and instead agreed to postpone the recommendation after speaking with investigators. PHR-Israel and PCATI demand that incidents such as this be investigated.
"The cases described indicate a lack of awareness among physicians in hospitals and particularly in prison clinics, of the rules of medical ethics, especially in regards to the documentation of signs of violence and/or torture on inmates' bodies and the complaints they express," says the letter. "The cases described indicate that doctors do not report on the violence/torture and sometimes are susceptible to 'pressure' exerted on them by representatives of the security establishment that require them to act against the rules of medical ethics."
Anat Litvin, Director of Prisoners and Detainees Department at PHR-Israel: "The Israeli medical Association has an obligation to investigate cases when doctors comply with torture, and pressure the Ministry of Health to take steps against them. We believe that doctors are used by torturers as a safety net - take them out of the system and torture will be much more difficult to enact."
For more information: Libby Friedlander 054-245-7682
[Cross-posted on Psyche, Science, and Society.]
