Physician Accountability for War Crimes

1. Physician Accountability for War Crimes Steven H. Miles, MD Professor of Medicine and Bioethics University of Minnesota No Conflicts of Interest. No commercial products mentioned.

2. Physicians and Torture: a 10 year project. • MD Accountability • Publications • On-line Database • Testimony & Collaborations • MD Codes • (Compilations, Variations, Harmonization, Reform) • Publications (incl screening for torture) • War on Terror MDs • Book & Publications • On-line Databases • Documentary • www.doctorsofthedarkside.com/ 2007 2004 2009 2012

3. Nuremburg Nazi Medicine Trial, 1946-1947 • 23 defendants • 7 death by hanging • 9 prison terms, 10 yrs to life, • 7 acquitted.

4. United Nations Convention Against Torture, Cruel, Inhuman, and Degrading Treatment UN Principles Protection of Persons under Detention UN Principles Medical Ethics 1956 1946 1948 1975 1980 1984 1988 1997 2007 Clinical Societies Policies WMA Declaration of Geneva No Licenses MDs fleeing prosecution Declaration of Tokyo Regulation in Armed Conflict Duty of MDs to Document and Denounce

5. Study Population • Doctors punished for torture or war crimes that occurred after 1972 (date of Amnesty). • International or national courts, medical licensing boards. • Exclude acquittals but • Include physicians found guilty and then excused by amnesties, pardons, etc. • Not an exhaustive list. • Some torture doctors give self-incriminating testimony in exchange for immunity or amnesty.

6. Torture . . . any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, • is intentionally inflicted on a person • by, or at the instigation, consent or acquiescence of a person acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in, or incidental to, lawful sanctions. • —UN Convention Against Torture (abridged)

7. 500,000 with Parkinson Disease 500,000 Torture Survivors in US* 400,000 persons with Multiple Sclerosis Prevalence Of Torture Survivors 300,000 persons with Scleroderma in US *US Dept of Justice: Office for Victims of Crime; 2000

8. Prevalence of Torture in Some National or Refugee Groups 500,000 torture survivors. Bosnia? Tibet Afghanistan Iraq Gaza Algeria Senegal Bhutan Cambodia 75-79 Cohort S. Leone Sudan/Somalia Ethiop/Eritrea Zaire Timor Zimbabwe 80-100 countries practice torture as policy. Amnesty International, 2008. Refugees from a given country have a higher torture prevalence than nationals. Redface: high but percents are not known. Miles SH. Compiled from multiple sources.

9. Torturing regimes need doctors. • Devise means to minimize scars, including psychosexual torture, (a response to human rights groups surveillance). • Keep alive those who are supposed to live. • Conceal the cause of death of those who die. Half of torture survivors report seeing a physician overseeing their torture.

10. Study Population • Doctors punished for torture or war crimes that occurred after 1972 (date of Amnesty). • International or national courts, medical licensing boards. • Exclude acquittals but • Include physicians found guilty and then excused by amnesties, pardons, etc. • Not an exhaustive list. • Some torture doctors give self-incriminating testimony in exchange for immunity or amnesty.

11. Miércoles, 21 de Febrero de 2007 | EL PAIS › LA CAUSA CONTRA BIANCO POR LA REPRESION EN CAMPO DE MAYO Dueño del destino de las embarazadas Comparta esta nota con un amigo Norberto Atilio Bianco cumplió funciones como médico en el Hospital Militar de Campo de Mayo con el grado de capitán del Ejército durante la última dictadura militar. La Justicia lo condenó en 2000 por la apropiación de dos menores de edad, pero en diciembre del año pasado las Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo sumaron a esa denuncia otra por su responsabilidad en los secuestros y desapariciones de los hijos de, por lo menos, 35 mujeres embarazadas que pasaron por Campo de Mayo. Siluetas de desaparecidos en el predio de Campo de Mayo. “Pudimos revertir el plan macabro”

12. Google Translator 21 Feb 2007 ...Dueño del destino de las embarazadas. www.pagina12.com.ar/diario/elpais/subnotas/80690-26051-2007-02-21.html - [ Translate this page ]

13. Original Spanish text: La Justicia lo condenó en 2000 por la apropiación de dos menores de edad, pero en diciembre del año pasado las Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo sumaron a esa denuncia otra por su responsabilidad en los secuestros y desapariciones de los hijos de, por lo menos, 35 mujeres embarazadas que pasaron por Campo de Mayo. Contribute a better translation Wednesday, February 21, 2007 Nation>THE CAUSE AGAINST THE REPRESSION IN BIANCO CAMPO DE MAYO OWNER OF THE FATE OF PREGNANT WOMEN      Owner of the fate of pregnant women Norberto Atilio Bianco served as physician at the Hospital Militar de Campo de Mayo with the rank of captain in the Army during the last military dictatorship. Justice sentenced him in 2000 for the appropriation of two minors, but in December last year, the Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo joined by another claim that its liability in the abductions and disappearances of children of at least 35 pregnant women who went to Campo de Mayo. Silhouettes of the missing at the site at Campo de Mayo. "We will reverse the macabre"

14. Physicians Sanctioned for War Crimes / Torture 1975-2010 Yugoslavia UK Italy Greece Pakistan Bangladesh Brazil Sri Lanka Guyana Rwanda Chile Uruguay SanctionedHearingOpen Medical Board Domestic Court International Court Died during crim trial SouthAfrica Argentina Combinations signify multiple events for one person

15. Court Martial (one) 1975 The First post-Nuremburg Case • After the Greek junta fell, Dr. Dimitri Kofas, supervisor of torture: • Court martialed for dereliction of duty. • Imprisoned.

16. Dr. M Stakic VP Munc Assembly Genocide Dr. B Simic War Presidency Crim ag Humanity Dr. C Bizimungu Foreign Minister Genocide A Separate Issue: MDs who are Senior Government Officials These physicians acted as senior government officials, not as clinicians.

17. Careerism Patriotism/ Political Affiliations. National emergency. Collegiality Orders. Fear. Personality disorder. Amilcar Lobo Brazil, Psychiatrist “man has used torture and assas-sination for thousands of years and permitted it as long as it is socially organized. It is but a moment from the Inquisition’s torture and murder of the Jews to the Nazi’s similar actions forty years ago. This is human nature; I am not ashamed to be part of it.” Lobo A. A Hora do Lobo e a Hora do Carneiro [The Hour of the Wolf and the Hour of the Sheep.] Motivations

18. Governments Shelter Torture Doctors • Amnesties/Excuse crimes committed under orders. • Require military courts to screen cases. • Block access to records, military testimony. • Exempt military MDs from license punishments. • Establish government medical associations to supersede civilian medical societies. • Let delicensed MDs work in military hospitals.

19. Types of Hearings as of 2010s Sanctioned N=57 In Progress N=18 Medical Associations Precede Court Actions (court involvement is often second action against an MD)

20. Crimes Murder (incl. false death certificates) Kidnapping “Torture” rarely indicted because not codified. Sanctions Imprisonment Damages to survivors Revoke pensions Ethics Violations National codes Declaration of Tokyo Hippocratic Oath Sanctions Suspend license Revoke licenses Censure Revoke awards. Remove from Office. Courts vs. Medical License Brds

21. Denouncing of Physicians Camilo Azar Saba Suspended for six months by the Medical Association for torture of prisoners at barracks of Centro Nacional de Información. Involved in case of Federico Santibanez. Address: Alto Las Condes, ubicada en Avenida Kennedy 9001, piso 7, Mall Alto Las Condes. Phone: 6366666 Home Web Clinic

22. Court Sanctions Courts Obstruct complaints Amnesty, Pardons Destroy Evidence Intimidation Med Assn Sanctions Med Ethics Awakening Build support for sanctions Resistance Compile evidence A Schematic History of Sanctions Courts Torturing regime Create new med assns Employ sanctioned MDs In gov hospitals Political affinities Medical Associations Civil society

23. MDs Sanctioned for Torture

24. Few allegations proceed to sanctions. Argentina 200+ Allegations 12 Sanctions Brazil 110 Allegations 22 Sanctions Chile 80 Allegations 10 Sanctions

25. Stage IV: Systems for sanction-ing MDs for abetting torture. Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Italy, Rwanda, Uruguay. Stage III: Punished a symbolic physician. Greece, UK, South Africa, Pakistan, Sri Lanka. Stage II: Condemn MD complicity in principle but have not sanctioned complicit MDs. Egypt, US, Philippines, Venezuela, … Stage I: Suppress discussion of MD complicity with torture. Libya, China, or North Korea National Stages of MD Sanctions for Torture Stage IV III Stage II Stage I

27. Doctors and Torture Doctors are essential to resistance to torture. • stewards of norms against prisoner abuse (Declaration of Tokyo). • detect torture. • physicians are allied with civil dissent from torture. • Pressure other MDs to report and resist torture. Doctors are essential to torturing regimes. • help minimize scars, • keep alive those who are supposed to live, • conceal the cause of death of those who die. Half of torture survivors report that a MD supervised the torture.

28. Health Professions Council of South Africa: Matter of W.J. Basson MD

29. Slides available on requestMiles001@umn.edu Miles SH, Alencar A, Crock BN. Sanctions against physicians for war crimes: A work in progress. Paper is available at IRCT.ORG.