The New York Times published a letter from Leonard Rubenstein in response to the March 24 article, “In Syria’s Civil War, Doctors Find Themselves in Cross Hairs.”
“Syria’s arrest, imprisonment, torture and murder of doctors and nurses for providing medical care to its enemies warrants not only condemnation but also referral to the United Nations Security Council for prosecution for war crimes,” Rubenstein wrote. “Despite 150 years of international law demanding respect for health care regardless of the patient’s affiliation, equating medical care with anti-state or terrorist-support activities has become common.”
The complete letter is available on The New York Times’ website:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/02/opinion/protecting-doctors-in-syria.html
Leonard Rubenstein is a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Public Health and Human Rights and chairman of the Safeguarding Health in Conflict coalition.