Physicians for Human Rights
Using science and medicine to stop human rights violationsBlog
Backpack medics released
PHR welcomes the recent release of two Backpack Health Worker medics who were abducted by the Burma Army in Karen State, Burma in October of last year. The Backpack Health Worker Team is a community-based organization that provides medical care to civilians in war-torn Karen State.
Fatou Bensouda to take the helm as ICC’s new prosecutor
Earlier this week, Gambian lawyer Fatou Bensouda was chosen to be the new Chief Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court. She will be the second person, and the first African, to hold this position. Bensouda was the likely choice for the position given her professional qualifications, including serving as Deputy Prosecutor to Luis Moreno-Ocampo during his nine-year tenure as Chief Prosecutor of the Court. Given the extent of the ICC’s work in Africa – all seven of the countries with cases before the court are African – the choice of an African prosecutor seems especially appropriate.
Medical Neutrality Exemption a Victory for Asylum-Seeking Health Professionals
In response to advocacy from groups like Physicians for Human Rights, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano fixed a flaw in current immigration law by creating an exemption to the material support bar for health professionals who have provided medical assistance to wounded combatants as part of their ethical and moral responsibilities.
Current Work
Help Pass the Medical Neutrality Act
The Medical Neutrality Protection Act of 2011 is a bipartisan bill largely drafted by PHR that makes the protection of medical professionals and access to medical services a global policy priority for the US government.
Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland in Bahrain: Speak Out or Get Out
See UPDATE to this May 2011 post. Ireland’s leading medical institution, the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), which has trained many Bahraini physicians, has been conspicuously absent in the global call for the Kingdom of Bahrain to stop its relentless and systematic attack on medical workers.
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