New report highlights torture of detained healthcare workers in Palestine

A new report gives evidence of medical workers in Palestine being detained and tortured, with the Australian Government being asked to pressure Israel over breaches of human rights. Dr Sue Baglow reports.

THE LATEST REPORT by the Physicians for Human Rights Israel makes for chilling reading. It provides evidence and testimony about the large numbers of Palestinian medical workers being detained for long periods without charge — tortured, starved and denied appropriate medical treatment.

Such reports should horrify healthcare workers in Australia when they see their colleagues treated in this way, for simply doing their jobs. This latest report sheds further light on abuses of medical workers by the State of Israel previously reported by agencies such as Health Care Workers Watch Palestine. At least four medical workers from Gaza have been killed while in detention: Dr Adnan Al Bursh, Dr Iyad Al Rantisi, Dr Ziad Al-Dalou and paramedic Hamdan Abu Anaba.

Healthcare workers in Gaza have been arrested, detained and moved in between prisons repeatedly, tortured and given insufficient food, clothing and appropriate medical care. After many months in detention, many have been released without any charges being made. Their sole reason for being detained seems to have been to gain information on combatants or to disrupt the medical system in Gaza.

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This violates the protected status of health professionals under the Geneva Conventions. Israel has not signed all the protocols of those conventions.

These are real people with expertise that should be used for their country to heal and save lives.

They include Dr Khaled Alser, surgeon at Nasser Hospital, who said ‘they were handcuffed with plastic zip ties for five days and interrogated inside the houses’:

“I was next to my medical colleagues when they took them, tortured and beat them, and later released some while arresting others.”

Dr KS, a 29-year-old surgeon at Al-Shifaa Hospital, said:

“They took me from Al-Shifaa Hospital directly to a detention centre. Along the way, they beat us with batons one after another especially the doctors. They asked each detainee whether they were a doctor.”

Dr KJ said:

“While being transported to the interrogation facility, they threatened to cut off my fingers because I am a dentist.”

Even if now released, their ability to go back into their difficult and dangerous healthcare settings will be compromised. Their physical and psychological health will be damaged by months of torture and deprivation. Theirs is a wealth of knowledge and length of experience across a range of specialties.

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Back in January, the United Nations reported that only 16 of the region’s 36 hospitals remain partially operational and over 1,000 healthcare workers have been killed.

This new report from Physicians for Human Rights Israel seems to indicate that detention is being used to further weaken the healthcare system. Detention takes healthcare workers out of service, destroys their capacity to work and disrupts training of upcoming healthcare workers by targeting senior staff.

The Physicians for Human Rights Israel are making an urgent request:

‘...that the international community demands the immediate release of all detained medical personnel and guarantees that the fundamental rights and protections of medical workers be upheld.’

It is in all our interests that the rules of war as outlined in the Geneva Conventions be honoured and that medical workers should not be targeted.

The Australian Government should be calling for the release of all healthcare workers who have not been charged. All detained healthcare workers should immediately be given access to appropriate medical care and legal representation. There should be full accountability and transparency regarding the whereabouts of detained healthcare workers and their detention conditions.

Pressure needs to be put on the Israeli Government to stop these ongoing violations of human rights.

This is a time when medical and other health professional bodies need to voice their concerns for their imprisoned colleagues. The Medical Association for Prevention of War has written to the Australian Medical Association, urging it to speak out.