Human Rights

A Human Rights Approach to Health Care in Conflict

Friday, September 27, 2013
Acts or threats of violence perpetrated against medical personnel, patients, facilities and transports that hinder the provision of medical care, contravene the rules and fundamental principles of international humanitarian law when carried out in situations of armed conflict. However, as recent targeting of health workers in Turkey, Pakistan and Bahrain illustrate, there are many situations of political volatility where humanitarian law does not apply.

PHR Documents Unlawful Use of Force and Tear Gas and Attacks on Medical Community in Turkey

Wednesday, September 25, 2013
The Turkish government has engaged in unnecessary and excessive violence, used tear gas as a weapon on a massive scale, and intentionally targeted medical facilities and staff during the June demonstrations, according to a new report by Physicians for Human Rights (PHR). The report discusses how Turkish authorities violated international laws while cracking down on what started as peaceful protests at the end of May over the government’s plan to raze Istanbul’s Gezi Park.

UN: End Impunity for Attacks on Health Workers

Friday, September 20, 2013
The United Nations Human Rights Council should strengthen documentation and accountability for the growing number of attacks on health workers, the Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition, a group of human rights, health professionals and other nongovernmental groups said today. At a side event of the Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva, speakers from Turkey, Bahrain, and Pakistan described attacks on healthcare workers for providing care to politically unpopular groups, or because the workers witnessed human rights violations.

Targeting the Healers: When Governments Attack Health Workers in Times of Conflict

Friday, September 20, 2013
When the government of Bahrain responded to peaceful protests in 2011 with a barrage of tear gas, birdshot, and other weapons, nurse Rula Al-Saffar rushed to help those in need. She saw abuse against protesters, including the use of live ammunition against a peaceful crowd and the firing of tear gas canisters at close range.

Around the World, Health Workers under Attack

Friday, September 20, 2013
In Syria, doctors have fled in droves, fearful of adding to the casualties in the country’s bloody civil war. In Pakistan, vaccinators are gunned down by militants. In Bahrain, physicians who treat protesters are thrown in jail. Despite universally recognized international law protecting medical workers in conflict situations, increasingly, the people on the front line of health care are becoming targets. At a side event of the United Nations Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva today, speakers from Turkey, Bahrain, and Pakistan described attacks on healthcare workers for providing care to politically unpopular groups, or because the workers witnessed human rights violations. Other recent attacks have targeted vaccination teams and ambulances.

Assault on Medical Care in Syria

Friday, September 13, 2013
The United Nations Human Rights Council produced a document, Assault on Medical Care in Syria, related to agenda item 4 at the Council’s 24th session in Geneva. “The deliberate targeting of hospitals, medical personnel and transports, the denial of access to medical care, and ill-treatment of the sick and wounded, has been one of the most alarming features of the Syrian conflict,” the document states.

Attacks on Medical Personnel in Turkey

Wednesday, August 7, 2013
Doctors and other healthcare workers in Turkey, and the facilities in which they work, are facing sustained and intense attacks for treating patients injured during the current civil unrest in the country. By providing emergency assistance to the injured, medical workers in Turkey are fulfilling their duty under the International Code of Medical Ethics. Had they not done so, they would have risked international condemnation, faced professional disciplinary proceedings, and violated the Turkish penal code.

ICN Health and Human Rights Award Presented to Mary Robinson

Saturday, May 18, 2013
Mary Robinson, the first female President of Ireland, former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and newly appointed UN Special Envoy for the Great Lakes region of Africa, has received the 2013 International Council of Nurses’ (ICN) Health and Human Rights Award. Formally presented at the ICN 25th Quadrennial Congress in Melbourne, Australia, the award bestows the esteem and recognition of the world’s 12 million nurses for Robinson’s outstanding contributions to the domain of health and human rights.

New UN Report on Human Rights Violations in Syria Cites Targeting of Health Workers and Hospitals

Monday, February 18, 2013
A UN commission of inquiry on Syria issued a report on the deteriorating situation of human rights in the country. Report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic includes language relating to health workers and facilities.

Advancing Protection of Health in Armed Conflict

Sunday, April 22, 2012
On April 26, Leonard Rubenstein of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health will give a presentation at the 13th World Congress on Public Health in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, as part of the session Armed Conflict, Human Rights Violations, and Health Impact. Rubenstein will present Advancing Protection of Health in Armed Conflict. The International Committee of the Red Cross has stated that violence inflicted on health care services and personnel is one of the most significant and complex yet under-recognized problems in humanitarian practice.

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