ICRC Warns of Human Toll of Attacks on Medical Workers

• by Denis Foynes (united nations)
• Friday, August 12, 2011
• Inter Press Service

'The violence against health care faculties and medical personnel must end. It's a matter of life or death,' said Yves Daccord, head of the ICRC. 'The human cost is staggering - civilians and fighters often die from their injuries simply because they are prevented from receiving timely medical assistance.'

The report lists hundreds of attacks on patients, health care workers and facilities, including looting and kidnapping, as well as arrests by security forces and deliberate obstruction of access to vital medical help.

The ICRC focused on 16 war-torn countries, including Libya, Afghanistan, Somalia and Colombia. It analysed reports collected over a two-and-a-half year period, describing 655 violent incidents, using data obtained from humanitarian agencies, including the ICRC, and from open sources such as the media and websites.

In 33 percent of the cases, the violence was committed by state armed forces, and 36.9 percent by armed groups. The report says that these criminal actions could result in the unnecessary deaths of thousands if not a million people around the world.

Under a 150-year-old principle adopted in the first Geneva Convention, it is the right of those wounded in war to receive medical treatment - and the right of medical workers to move freely to help people in need of vital assistance.

'Despite numerous efforts by the International Red Cross and its partner, the Red Crescent Movement over decades to put an end to these acts, the problem nonetheless continues,' says the ICRC.

'The most shocking finding is that people die in large numbers not because they are direct victims of a roadside bomb or a shooting,' said Robin Coupland, whose research in the 16 countries formed the basis of the report.

'They die because the ambulance does not get there in time, because health-care personnel are prevented from doing their job, because hospitals are themselves targets of attacks or simply because the environment is too dangerous for effective health care to be delivered.'

A recent example of a hospital failing to be granted neutrality in a conflict zone can be seen in Manama, Bahrain during this year's Arab Spring revolt.

As injured protestors came into the hospital in Manama for treatment, the facility slowly evolved into a focal point for the movement. As thousands more took to the streets in the pursuit of democracy, the hospital filled with protestors and international media.

Allegations began to fly between the army and medical staff. The latter were accused of aiding the revolution, only treating rebels and supplying propaganda.

Forty-seven doctors were detained and put on trial, accused of aiding the protesters and trying to overthrow the state. They denied the charges, and said that some of their staff were tortured in the pursuit of confessions.

Asked by IPS about the root causes of the problem, Bijan Frederic Farnoudi, a Red Cross spokesperson, said that, 'There are several issues involved here which make an explanation quite complex. One fact is that while attacks of medical services are certainly illegal, in some places they are accepted as the norm.'

'Also the change in warfare must be considered. Conflict mainly takes place in urban areas now. Patients go to the hospital along with the military, hence the hospital and the staff becomes drawn into the conflict.'

'What is important to remember about the report is that while we have always known medical staff are hindered by these factors, the staggering extent of the damage this causes is now clearer,' he said.

Asked what can be done by the international community, Farnoudi stated, 'There are a number of methods to tackle this problem. It is important to remember that this is cannot be solved by the Red Cross or the health community. This is because these attacks are not health issues but security issues.'

'There are a number of short-term or long-term solutions out there. The reason we are releasing this report and holding press conferences is to generate publicity and force the governments, armed forces and NGO's into action and protect medical services,' he said.

Doctors and medical staff are now themselves becoming causalities of war. In the words of Daccord, the current situation is 'one of the most urgent yet overlooked humanitarian tragedies, the issue has been staring us in the face for years. It must end.'

The release of the report marks the beginning of a four year campaign by the ICRC to remind armed groups of their responsibility to allow the injured to receive their treatment and to permit medical personnel to workout obstruction.

© Inter Press Service (2011) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service

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