In its February 25 edition, the British Medical Journal published an article on the complicity of health-care workers in torture. The article was written by staff of the Rehabilitation and Research Centre for Torture Victims, based in Copenhagen, Denmark. In the article, the authors assess how a new UN resolution that passed in March 2009 could help doctors to follow their consciences when confronted with torture. Some doctors disregard their ethical obligation not to participate in torture when they are faced with dual-loyalty situations. Doctors working for a state agent such as the military, the prison system or the police may be obliged to serve the interests of their employer, to the detriment of medical ethics. In such situations doctors must choose between duties imposed by their employers and the ethical duty to maintain medical confidentiality and protect their patients’ health.
In March 2009, the United Nations Human Rights Council passed a resolution on the role and responsibility of medical and other health professionals in torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment. According to the authors, the resolution represents an important contribution to the struggle against torture because it targets states, urging them to act to prevent health workers from becoming involved in torture and to protect those who stand out against it. In addition, the resolution directly addresses both health-care professionals and the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, asking the Rapporteur to give particular attention to the problem of ‘medical complicity’. There are several ways to enforce the standards presented in this resolution, the authors state. The first is the strengthening of the investigative function of the Special Rapporteur. “Increased attention to this area of the Rapporteur’s work should ensure that more cases of medical complicity will be subject to public scrutiny and that violators will face disciplinary action, including suspension of their professional licence.” The resolution also provides more specific guidelines for the World Medical Association. “National medical associations should systematically review conditions applying to all members who have dual loyalty, ensuring that there are effective reporting mechanisms for torture and ill treatment and no reprisals against doctors who use such mechanisms.”
Polatin, P., Modvig, J. & Rytter, T., Helping to stop doctors becoming complicit in torture, BMJ 2010;340:c973, 25 February 2010
More information:
UN Human Rights Council. Resolution on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment: The role and responsibility of medical and other health personnel, 2009, A/HRC/10/L.32. http://blog.unwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/march-hrc-torture.pdf
World Medical Association. Resolution on responsibility of physicians in documentation and denunciation of acts of torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment, 2007, www.wma.net/en/30publications/10policies/t1/index.html
World Medical Association. Doctors working in prisons: human rights and ethical dilemmas. A web-based course for health care personnel working in prison, www.wma.net/en/20activities/20humanrights/30doctorsprison/index.html