[Ppnews] 700 doctors demand the removal of WMA president for involvement in Palestine PP torture

[Political Prisoner News]

700 doctors demand the removal of WMA president for involvement in torture

http://www.imemc.org/article/60914
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  Tuesday June 23, 2009 13:30
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 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC 
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700 doctors from 43 countries sent a letter of protest to the Word 
Medical Association (WMA), which is considered the WMA's governing 
body, demanding the removal of the newly appointed president, an 
Israeli doctor, for ignoring the participation of medical staff in 
the torture of Palestinian prisoners, the Guardian reported.

The Israeli doctor, Yoram Blachar, has been the head of the Israeli 
Medical Association since 1995, and became the head of the WMA of 
November of last year.

The physicians, who signed the protest letter, are senior professors 
and physicians from England, Europe and the United States.

They stated that Blachar had failed to respond to charges that a 
number of Israeli doctors are involved in the torture of Palestinian 
detainees during interrogation in Israeli prisons.

In 1996, the Amnesty International reported that doctors, working 
with the Israeli security services, are taking part in torturing 
Palestinian detainees, mistreating and humiliating them in a manner 
that violates medical ethics.

Pediatrician Alan Meyers, from Boston University School of Medicine, 
in the United States, said that the presidency of Blachar to the WMA 
mocks the principles of the association which was founded in 1947.

A 1975 declaration in Japan states all Physicians in all situations 
should not participate of help in torture or any form of cruel, 
inhuman or degrading procedures, including in armed conflicts and 
civil unrest.

In its annual meeting two years ago, the institution decided that all 
doctors are obliged to document cases of torture they are aware of, 
and that the lack of documenting such cases would be considered 
tolerance to torture, and lack of assistance to the victims.

  The Guardian said that Blachar sent an email to it promising to 
respond to the allegations, and described the news as baseless 
imaginary allegations.

  In 1997, Blachar sent a letter to the Lancet medical Journal 
defending the participation of physicians in torturing Palestinian 
detainees in Israeli prisons.

  In his letter, Blachar claimed that 'moderate physical pressure', 
similar to the torture sanctioned by the Bush Administration against 
Guantanamo Bay prisoners, and other CIA black sites in several 
countries, 'does not violate the international law'.

This so-called 'moderate' torture used by the CIA includes beating 
the detainees, depriving them from sleeping, isolating them, 
subjecting them to extreme hot and cold, humiliating them in addition 
to various illegal methods.

  Meyers, who is also Jewish and well known for his stances for human 
rights in Israel since many years, stated that physicians who are 
involved in torture should not be allowed to practice medicine, and 
should be held accountable for their participation in torture.

In June 26 of 2008, the Israeli Physicians For Human Rights published 
a report accusing Israeli doctors of ignoring the human rights of the 
Palestinian detainees.

  It is worth mentioning that dozens of Palestinian detainees died 
due to torture, dozens more died due to medical negligence, while 
hundreds of detainees are currently in urgent need for medical care, 
including cancer patients, and detainees who suffer chronic illnesses 
and disabilities, but are not receiving the needed medical treatment.




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