PHA-Exchange> urgent statement health Iraq

Wed Nov 16 00:02:56 PST 2005

Dear friends,
I'm sending you a statement of concern on the violations of the right to 
health care in Iraq, and of solidarity with the Iraqi health workers. 
The statement contains several bits of information provided to us by Dr. 
Salam Ismail, who was with us at the PHA2 in Cuenca, apart from 
information coming from UN sources and others. We're asking you to sign 
this statement and circulate it widely. We'd like to have many health 
workers, activists and organisations sign before we send it out for 
signature to non-health people, as the primary objective is health 
worker-to-health worker solidarity.
Please send your signature to info at brusselstribunal.org.
Thanks a lot, and more power!
Bert

NB: Of course the signature of the PHM as such would be great, and 
highly appreciated!

*Stop violations of the right to health care in Iraq*

*Solidarity with the plight of Iraqi health workers*

As large-scale US-led military operations in Iraq continue unabated, the 
health situation on the ground is at breaking point. The Iraqi health 
infrastructure, medical doctors and hospital staff are unable to cope 
with the deepening medical and humanitarian crisis. As they themselves 
are often targets of harassment and attack, doctors and medical staff 
find it near impossible to perform their duties as health workers.

We, health professionals and activists from around the world, cannot 
remain silent while our colleagues in Iraq are facing the enormous 
difficulties caused by the ongoing war and occupation of their country. 
As health workers, we urgently demand that all actions that
compromise human health must be stopped at once.

We therefore:

- Express our solidarity with the courageous Iraqi health workers who 
are trying to perform their duty in the most difficult conditions and 
render medical services to the civilian population in need.

- Condemn the attacks on medical facilities, and the killing and 
harassment of health personnel and academics.

- Call on the US and Iraqi authorities to respect the Geneva Conventions 
and other relevant instruments of international law regarding the 
protection of medical personnel and facilities.

- Ask international and Iraqi health and human rights institutions and 
agencies to conduct an independent investigation of violations of the 
right to health care in Iraq.

- Stress that from a public health point of view, a swift end to 
occupation, with the withdrawal of all foreign troops, appears to be a 
major requirement.

_Initial list of signatories (15 November 2005):___

Dr. Bert De Belder, Medical Aid for the Third World, Belgium

Hans von Sponeck,* *Former UN Assistant Secretary General & Humanitarian 
Coordinator for Iraq, Germany

Dr. Dahlia Wasfi, M.D., Global Exchange, USA

Dr. Yasmine Wasfi, M.D., Ph.D., USA

Ellen Catalinotto, midwife, USA

Dr. Geert Van Moorter, Medical Aid for the Third World, Belgium

Dr. Colette Moulaert, Medical Aid for the Third World, Belgium

*To sign this statement, please mail to info at brusselstribunal.org 
<mailto:info at brusselstribunal.org>, with the subject heading “health 
statement”. Please mention your name, function, organisation and country.*

Categories and some concrete examples of violations of the right to 
health care in Iraq

_*A. Attacks on and military occupation of hospitals and other medical 
facilities*_

- The occupation of Fallujah Hospital, on 7 November 2004, is the most 
prominent example. Not only were the hospital staff and all patients 
arrested, but the internal central clinic of the hospital was bombed, 
killing patients and two doctors.[1] <#_ftn1>

- In the course of 2005, hospitals in the cities of Haditha, Al-Qaim, 
Talafar and Ramadi were occupied and sometimes used as bases for US and 
Iraqi armed forces, without providing alternative health care facilities 
to the people of those cities.

- In the August 2005 military offensive against Al-Qaim, the electricity 
supply to Al-Qaim General Hospital was cut off. Doctors were unable to 
move inside the area because of the ongoing military operation. The 
manager of the hospital was forced to temporarily close the facility 
because of the unsafe conditions in the area.[2] <#_ftn2>

- On 4 October 2005, US and Iraqi military forces launched an attack on 
Haditha, devastating its medical facilities. The main hospital had been 
severely damaged already by a previous military attack in May, with the 
medical store of the hospital completely burnt. US/Iraqi forces took 
over the hospital for seven days.[3] <#_ftn3>

- Early November 2005, during a joint US/Iraqi military operation in 
Al-Qaim no ambulances were allowed inside the city. The only hospital in 
the city is desperately lacking medicines.[4] <#_ftn4>

/These constitute violations of Article 18 of the Fourth Geneva 
Convention: “Civilian hospitals organized to care to the wounded and 
sick, infirm and maternity cases, may in no circumstances be the object 
of attack, but shall at all times be respected and protected”, and of 
//other relevant instruments and principles of human rights and 
humanitarian law./

_*B. The harassment, arrest and maltreatment of health workers*_

- On 9 November 2004, 20 doctors were killed by a US air strike on a 
government clinic in the centre of Fallujah.[5] <#_ftn5>

- On 19 July 2005, more than 30 doctors in Baghdad’s Yarmouk Hospital 
went on strike, demanding that they should be able to treat the patients 
freely, free from the continuous threat of Iraqi soldiers. The strike 
was triggered by an incident in which Iraqi soldiers burst into the 
hospital’s women’s ward. When a young doctor voiced disapproval, 
soldiers maltreated and threatened him.[6] <#_ftn6>

- On 26 July 2005, members of the Iraqi National Guard destroyed the 
Intensive Care Unit at Baghdad’s Medical City hospital and threatened 
medical staff after one of their colleagues died despite the medical 
attention he had received.[7] <#_ftn7>

- On 10 August 2005, unidentified gunmen ambushed a group of doctors on 
their way from Karbala to offer assistance at hospitals west of Baghdad, 
killing 10 of them. Among the victims were Dr Youssef Alewi and two of 
his assistants from the Karbala health department.[8] <#_ftn8>

- On 5 October 2005, US-led forces arrested two doctors at the main 
hospital in Haditha. Dr Walid Al-Obeidi, the director of Haditha General 
Hospital and Dr Jamil Abdul Jabbar, the only surgeon in the Haditha 
area, were arrested for a week, very badly beaten and threatened.[9] 
<#_ftn9>

- According to reports from the Word Health Organization, during 
military operations in Al Anbar province in October 2005, medical 
doctors were detained and medical facilities occupied by armed forces. 
According to the UN Assistance Mission in Iraq, “such actions are 
contrary to international law governing armed conflict and in any event 
they constitute a denial of the protection of international human rights 
law”.[10] <#_ftn10>

/These constitute violations of Article 20 of the Fourth Geneva 
Convention: “Persons regularly and solely engaged in the operation and 
administration of civilian hospitals, including the personnel engaged in 
the search for, removal and transportation of and caring for the wounded 
and sick civilians, the infirm and maternity cases, shall be respected 
and protected.”; of Article 55: “Medical personnel of all categories 
shall be allowed to carry out their duties.”; and of and other relevant 
instruments and principles of human rights and humanitarian law./

_*C. The failure to provide adequate health services and resources, in 
spite of the increased patient load*_

- In the Baghdad area, of 11 hospitals surveyed in late 2004, eight to 
eleven were in critical need of X-ray equipment, ventilators and 
ambulances, and all of them were only sporadically supplied with 
medicines and laboratory material.[11] <#_ftn11>

- In mid-October 2005, two days of US air attacks against Ramadi caused 
heavy casualties among the city’s civilian population. “We have received 
the bodies of 38 people in our hospital and among them were four 
children and five women,” Ahmed Al-Kubaissy, a senior doctor at Ramadi 
hospital said, adding that his hospital had also treated 42 injured 
people. Dr Al-Kubaissy said he had run out of painkillers, but more 
casualties kept on arriving.[12] <#_ftn12>

- The UN Assistance Mission in Iraq reports that for the months of 
September and October 2005, according to figures released by the 
multinational forces and NGOs, more than 10,000 families have been 
displaced due to ongoing military operations in Al Anbar and Ninewa 
provinces. Displaced persons’ access to basic services has been severely 
hampered.[13] <#_ftn13> Thousands of refugee families who fled Al-Qaim 
arrived in small towns and villages where there were no medical 
facilities and there was a shortage of health workers.[14] <#_ftn14>

- The October 2005 offensive in Haditha took the Iraqi Red Crescent by 
surprise at a time when most of its resources were deployed trying to 
help civilians hurt and displaced by US military operations against 
Al-Qaim and Talafar. “It is a collapse and we now don’t know where to 
start or finish”, Red Crescent spokeswoman Ferdous Al-Abadi said.[15] 
<#_ftn15>

/These constitute violations of Articles 55 and 56 the Fourth Geneva 
Convention: “To the fullest extent of the means available to it the 
Occupying Power has the duty of ensuring the food and medical supplies 
of the population (… and) of ensuring and maintaining, with the 
cooperation of national and local authorities, the medical and hospital 
establishments and services, public health and hygiene in the occupied 
territory.”; and of and other relevant instruments and principles of 
human rights and humanitarian law./

_*D. The kidnapping and assassination of health personnel and academics*_

- Various reports put the estimated figure of assassinated physicians, 
since the start of the invasion, at anywhere between 30 and 100.[16] 
<#_ftn16>

- Since the invasion of Iraq, its academe has been hit by a series of 
killings, including those of a former rector, a dean and several 
professors of the medical faculties of the University of Baghdad, 
Al-Mustansiriya University of Baghdad, the University of Basra and the 
University of Al-Anbar.[17] <#_ftn17>

- Some of the country’s most qualified specialists have been abducted 
and released in exchange for ransoms ranging between 1,000 and 10,000 
dollars. “The kidnapping of doctors has risen, forcing the best 
practitioners to leave Iraq and settle in neighbouring countries to 
protect themselves,” declared Health Ministry Public Affairs Officer May 
Yassin in May 2004.[18] <#_ftn18>

- Iraqi hospitals are having a hard time trying to cope with brain drain 
— the migration to other countries, because of the troubled situation in 
Iraq, of trained and talented personnel. “Security is causing so many 
doctors to leave, as are the kidnappings of doctors,” said Dr Wijdi 
Jalal, executive manager of the Baghdad Teaching Hospital. Wa’al 
Jubouri, a pharmacology student at Baghdad University said: “Everyone is 
asking himself if he’ll go or stay. We just live day by day. We all want 
to get out because the situation is so bad.”[19] <#_ftn19>

Examples of concrete action undertaken against the violation of the 
right to health care in Iraq

* In November 2004, the US Association of Humanitarian Lawyers (AHL)
submitted a petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human
Rights of the Organization of American States (OAS) on behalf of
“unnamed, unnumbered patients and medical staff both living and
dead of the Fallujah General Hospital and a trauma clinic against
the United States of America”. The Commission has authority to
investigate human rights violations committed by a member State of
the OAS and to seek remedies for victims. (See
http://www.humanlaw.org/petition.html)

* On 4 August 2005, the UN Sub-Commission on the Promotion
and Protection of Human Rights, in its 57^th session, passed a
resolution on the “Prohibition of military operations directed
against medical facilities,* *transport and personnel entitled to
protection during armed conflict”. (See
http://daccessdds.un.org/doc/UNDOC/LTD/G05/152/43/PDF/G0515243.pdf?OpenElement) 

* The BRussells Tribunal and the Spanish State Campaign against the
Occupation and for the Sovereignty of Iraq (CEOSI) have launched
the campaign ‘Academics for Peace’ to protest the killing of Iraqi
academics. (See http://www.brusselstribunal.org/Academics.htm and
http://www.nodo50.org/iraq/2004-2005/docs/represion_11-11-05.html)

------------------------------------------------------------------------

[1] <#_ftnref1> First Periodical Report of the Monitoring Network of 
Human Rights in Iraq (MHRI), Baghdad, August 2005, 
http://www.brusselstribunal.org/survey111105.htm#4

[2] <#_ftnref2> Doctors for Iraq, 30 August 2005, 
http://www.health-now.org/site/article.php?menuId=14&articleId=480

[3] <#_ftnref3> Doctors for Iraq, 10 November 2005, 
http://www.health-now.org/site/article.php?menuId=14&articleId=506

[4] <#_ftnref4> Doctors for Iraq, 7 November 2005

[5] <#_ftnref5> “Iraq: Medical needs massive in Fallujah - Red 
Crescent”, IRIN (UN’s humanitarian information unit), 10 November 2004, 
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44075&SelectRegion=Iraq_Crisis&SelectCountry=IRAQ 
<http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44075&SelectRegion=Iraq_Crisis&SelectCountry=IRAQ> 

[6] <#_ftnref6> First Periodical Report of the Monitoring Network of 
Human Rights in Iraq (MHRI), Baghdad, August 2005, 
http://www.brusselstribunal.org/survey111105.htm#4

[7] <#_ftnref7> Ibid.

[8] <#_ftnref8> “10 doctors killed in Iraq”, 10 August 2005, 
http://www.news24.com/News24/World/Iraq/0,,2-10-1460_1751963,00.html

[9] <#_ftnref9> “Iraqi Doctors Beaten and Arrested in Haditha Hospital”, 
Sabah Ali, 30 October 2005, 
http://www.brusselstribunal.org/ArticlesIraq2.htm#doctors

[10] <#_ftnref10> UN Assistance Mission in Iraq, Human Rights Report, 1 
September-31 October 2005, 
https://www422.ssldomain.com/uniraq/documents/HR%20Report.Oct.Eng%20final.doc 

[11] <#_ftnref11> “Iraqi hospitals ailing under occupation”, report by 
Dahr Jamail, 22 June 2005, 
http://www.brusselstribunal.org/pdf/HealthcareUnderOccupationDahrJamail.pdf

[12] <#_ftnref12> “Iraq: Women and children killed in US air strikes on 
Ramadi, doctor says”, IRIN, 18 October 2005, 
www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49611& 
SelectRegion=Middle_East&SelectCountry=IRAQ

[13] <#_ftnref13> UN Assistance Mission in Iraq, Human Rights Report, 1 
September-31 October 2005, 
https://www422.ssldomain.com/uniraq/documents/HR%20Report.Oct.Eng%20final.doc 

[14] <#_ftnref14> Doctors for Iraq, 9 October 2005, 
http://www.health-now.org/site/article.php?menuId=14&articleId=489

[15] <#_ftnref15> “Iraq: Thousands flee US military onslaught on 
Haditha”, IRIN, 6 October 2005, 
www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49396& 
SelectRegion=Middle_East&SelectCountry=IRAQ

[16] <#_ftnref16> Al-Ahram Weekly, 27 October-2 November 2005, 
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2005/766/re73.htm; and Haifa Zangana in The 
Guardian, 25 October 2004,* 
*http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1335170,00.html

[17] <#_ftnref17> Lista ampliada de profesores universitarios asesinados 
en Iraq durante el período de ocupación, Documento de la Campaña Estatal 
contra la Ocupación y por la Soberanía de Iraq (CEOSI), 
http://www.nodo50.org/iraq/2004-2005/docs/represion_11-11-05.html

[18] <#_ftnref18> “Iraqi doctors forces into exile”, The Australian, 30 
May 2005, 
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,9700132%255E1702,00.html 

[19] <#_ftnref19> “Iraqi hospitals ailing under occupation”, report by 
Dahr Jamail, 22 June 2005, 
http://www.brusselstribunal.org/pdf/HealthcareUnderOccupationDahrJamail.pdf
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