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Chapter-25 Torture and Medical Profession

BOOK TITLE: Textbook of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology

Author
1. Rao Nageshkumar G
ISBN
9788184487060
DOI
10.5005/jp/books/11366_25
Edition
2/e
Publishing Year
2010
Pages
6
Author Affiliations
1. SDM College of Medical Sciences and Hospital, Sattur, Dharwad 580 009, Karnataka, India, Manipal
Chapter keywords

Abstract

Torture and medical profession have been closely linked for centuries. Fifty years ago in Nuremberg, Germany, 23 physicians and scientists stood trial for war crimes committed before and during the Second World War. They were accused of inflicting a range of vile and lethal procedures on vulnerable populations and inmates of concentration camps from 1933-45. Fifteen of the twenty accused were found guilty after the trials and of these fifteen, seven were given the death penalty and the remaining were imprisoned. In cases of state sponsored torture some doctors who have been employed by the Governments are known to have connived with the perpetrators in torturing the victims. The role of physicians in the Nazi horrors has been well documented. Doctors have been present to revive victims in instances where interrogators have been torturing their victims. Doctors have advised torturers on the victims’ weak points, and advised against any torture that would result in an ‘embarrassing’ death. Of course doctors could always write a false report if the prisoner did die. The Ethics Committee of the Turkish Medical Association in 1995 has suspended ten doctors for preparing false reports to hide the torture of some teenagers.

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