Responding to the International Committee of the Red Cross report documenting the involvement of medical personnel in torture and abuse of detainees, the Times concludes:

The report underscores the need to have a full-scale investigation into these abusive practices and into who precisely participated in them. Only then will we know whether indictments or, in the case of physicians, the loss of medical licenses, are warranted.

An investigation into torture and abuse is not merely supported by both law and medical ethics, it is an imperative. The legal prohibition against torture, which includes attempt, complicity and participation, imposes the duty to investigate alleged abuse. The ethical principles enshrined in the Declaration of Tokyo, adopted by the World Medical Association and the American Medical Association, prohibits participation of physicians in torture and all forms of cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment. This includes providing “knowledge” to “facilitate the practice of torture or other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.” It also prohibits the physician’s presence when any of these practices take place.

Continued inaction by Congress, the President, health professionals and American citizens makes a mockery of the rule of law, human rights and medical ethics. As evidence mounts and calls for accountability go unheeded, the shroud of torture hangs heavy.

Related posts:

1. Further Evidence of Medical Monitoring of CIA Torture Mark Danner, an attorney and journalist, revealed in yesterday’s New...
2. Bush Administration Engaged in a Conscious Policy of Torture As more pieces of a very ugly mosaic fall into...
3. VIDEO: Campaign to Ban Torture ...

The use of health professionals to advise on conditions of confinement designed to enhance the interrogation process is unethical.  The report by Admiral Walsh highlights the fact that BSCs do not provide clinical health care. But this distinction is beside the point, since it is unethical for health professionals to have any direct participation in interrogation.

In addition, the DoD’s inhumane policy and practice of force-feeding detainees engaged in hunger strikes remain in place. This policy requires medical professionals to abandon the ethical guidelines promulgated by the World Medical Association and adopted by the American Medical Association, which prohibit force-feeding a competent and informed patient. This policy, which continues to harm the physical and mental health of detainees and compromise medical ethics, highlights the need for a comprehensive investigation into the role of medical professionals in detainee abuse and the DoD’s exploitation of medical professionals in such abuse. The report joins a series of DoD internal reviews that self-servingly justify existing policy and lack the independence and perspective necessary to restore the integrity of military medical ethics.

Physicians for Human Rights continues to support an independent, nonpartisan commission to undertake such an investigation and continues to encourage the DoD to bring its policies in line with established principles of medical ethics.

Related posts:

1. Further Evidence of Medical Monitoring of CIA Torture Mark Danner, an attorney and journalist, revealed in yesterday’s New...
2. VIDEO: Will the U.S. Close Guantanamo and End Extraordinary Rendition ...
3. New York Times Endorses Need to Investigate “Medically Assisted Torture” New York Times editorial calls for investigations in response to...