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Health professionals under pressure to aid human rights abuses

Health professionals in many countries are being targeted because of their attempts to document human rights abuses, according to a recent report by Amnesty International.

The report, Prescription for change, provides evidence that health workers in several countries are being pressurised to take part in human rights abuses.

For example, in 1994 Iraqi doctors were asked to amputate the ears and brand the foreheads of military and civilian ‘deserters’. If they did not comply, they were told they would suffer the same fate. Some doctors did resist this pressure, but at least one was executed and many were imprisoned as a result. Since then, several doctors have fled Iraq.

Amnesty states that repressive governments sometimes view the expansion of public health services as subversive. They may believe that health professionals are ‘treating the enemy’.

In Kenya, Amnesty quotes a doctor who says that ‘it is an open secret that the police have all along been attempting to influence what doctors write in their medical reports, especially when it is obvious a suspect has been tortured’.

Another doctor states: ‘Supposing, by the grace of God, you do finally gain access to the patient, the police will make sure they hear every word of what the patient is telling you. They will keep on interrupting during the interview... If the suspect happens to have been arrested for political reasons, the police will openly accuse you of being politically orientated. You are bluntly reminded that association with such individuals will most surely land you into problems.’

In some cases, doctors have taken part in human rights abuses by advising torturers on how far they can go with abuse while still keeping a prisoner alive, by ‘patching up’ a torture victim for a court appearance or by falsifying medical reports to hide evidence of torture.

Amnesty points to numerous international agreements on medical ethics which state that all prisoners should be granted a medical examination as soon as possible after arrest and medical care when necessary. The World Medical Association states that no doctor should take part in ‘the practice of torture or other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading procedures’ under any circumstances.

The human rights organisation calls on the UN to strengthen mechanisms for reporting on human rights abuses and to protect and guide those involved in this monitoring. It also urges the WHO to commit itself to preventing and exposing human rights violations and to elaborating standards for health professionals in documenting of abuses.

Amnesty also calls for governments to keep to international standards on medical treatment for prisoners and to guard against torture and abuse.