Dr Yoram Blachar,
WMA President
More than 700 doctors from across the world have a signed a letter demanding the removal of Dr. Yoram Blachar as head of the World Medical Association for alleged links to the torture of Palestinian prisoners.WMA President
The World Medical Association is the governing ethical body for doctors worldwide and was set up in the wake of widespread complicity by German and Japanese doctors in the mistreatment of patients during World War II.
Its 1975 Declaration of Tokyo states that "physicians shall not countenance, condone or participate in the practice of torture or other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading procedures, and in all situations, including armed conflict and civil conflict," and two years ago it obliged doctors to document any torture cases they become aware of.
Israeli doctors have long been accused of being complicit with Israeli security services in the torture and mistreatment of Palestinian prisoners. In 1996, Amnesty International concluded that Israeli doctors "formed part of a system in which detainees are tortured, ill-treated and humiliated in ways that place prison medical practice in conflict with medical ethics."
Blachar, who was appointed in November 2008, has yet to respond directly to the allegations leveled at Israeli doctors. The author of the letter, Dr. Alan Meyers of the Boston University School of Medicine, says that Blachar’s presidency makes a mockery of the ethos on which the WMA was founded.
The signatories included doctors from the United States, the United Kingdom and 41 other countries.
Views expressed on this post or on linked web pages do not represent the Palestine Center, the educational program of the Jerusalem Fund for Education and Community Development. All content is for educational purposes only.
