International Humanitarian Law Part 5

International humanitarian law
Commonwealth Law Bulletin
Volume 35, Number 4, 2009

International humanitarian law in the Commonwealth
Aldo Zammit Borda
Commonwealth Law Bulletin
Volume 35, Number 4, 2009 p.719

Commonwealth countries’ national legislation on International Humanitarian Law -Annual update on national legislation-2009
Commonwealth Law Bulletin
Volume 35, Number 4, 2009 p.735-737

Prisoners of War: A Comparative Study of the Principles of International Humanitarian Law and the Islamic Law of War
Murphy, Ray; El Zeidy, Mohamed M.
International Criminal Law Review
Volume 9, Number 4, 2009 p.623-649

Can we prevent doctors being complicit in torture? Breaking the serpent’s egg
Mike O’Connor
Journal of Law and Medicine
Volume 17, Number 3, December 2009 p.426

A significant minority of the tortured prisoners who survive report that a doctor was present during their torture. Yet few medical practitioners are ever criminally prosecuted or even disciplined by their regulatory bodies. Can such gross violations of the Hippocratic Code be so easily ignored or are these doctors carefully shielded from detection and prosecution by a grateful state? Mostly doctors act to vet prisoners for their capacity to withstand the torture or resuscitate them to allow torture and interrogation to continue. However, on occasion, the “healers”may be the actual torturers as happened in Russian psychoprisons in the latter part of the 20th century. This article argues that the de facto immunity which complicit doctors currently appear to enjoy must be stripped away and replaced by effective processes to detect and then prosecute criminal behaviour. This will require widespread reporting of cases and action by international bodies, including non-government organisations. Prevention is clearly preferable and this will require improvements in undergraduate and graduate medical Education about international humanitarian and human rights law. There is evidence that many medical faculties pay scant attention to this Education and their students graduate with serious flaws in their understanding and attitudes towards human rights. Education should target “doctors at risk”in prisons, armed forces and the police. It should address professional behaviour which tolerates or even protects cultures of abuse. A code of professional conduct would assist “doctors at risk”to resist overtures for them to become complicit in torture. Medical Practice Acts should include statements on respecting human rights when defining good professional conduct. Doctors who become complicit in torture betray their profession. Swift action should be taken to stop such abuses and perpetrators should receive strong disciplinary action from regulatory bodies.

Various mechanisms and approaches for implementing International humanitarian law and protecting and assisting war victims
Toni Pfanner
International Review of the Red Cross
Volume 91, Number 874, June 2009 p.279-328

Facilitating humanitarian assistance in international humanitarian and human rights law
Rebecca Barber
International Review of the Red Cross
Volume 91, Number 874, June 2009 p.371-397

Breaking New Ground: The Convention on Cluster Munitions and the Evolution of International humanitarian law
Bonnie Docherty
Human Rights Quarterly
Volume 31, Number 4, November 2009 p.934

The Deficiencies of International Humanitarian Law in Armed Conflicts of a ‘Mixed’ Character-Towards a Single Law of Armed Conflict?
Marie-Claire Rush
Cork Online Law Review
2009

CONFRONTING TRAUMATIC PASTS: Crimes Against Humanity, International Humanitarian Law, and the Problem of Retrospective Justice
JAMES T. CAMPBELL
Freedom Center Journal
Volume 1, Number 1, Spring 2008 p.22

Author: international

Mentioned in these Entries

Education, International Humanitarian Law Part 5, International Humanitarian Law, International humanitarian law, International humanitarian law.