Red Cross concerned at attacks on doctors

While the agency said it does not recognise the current situation in Northern Ireland as an Armed Conflict - and therefore the Geneva Conventions do not apply - it said parties to any conflict did not have the right to harrass medical personnel for activities compatible with medical ethics.

A document prepared for the conference - to be held in Switzerland from November 28 to December 1 - welcomes “the global communication campaign, which aims to raise international awareness of the violence, both real and threatened, against health-care workers, facilities and beneficiaries in armed conflict and other situations of violence and to promote measures to mitigate them”.

Following the attack on his home, Dr Keith Munro said that he works with prisoners and “upholds their human rights”. Never before had a Forensic Medical Officer been attacked in the 50 years since the service was established, and the attack was widely viewed as a new low in the terrorists’ campaign.

According to the ICRC armed conflict is government by International Humanitarian Law (IHL), while violent situations, such as the one in Northern Ireland, are governed by International Human Rights Law (IHRL).

Asked about the attack on Dr Munro, a spokesman for ICRC said: “The International Committee of the Red Cross does not consider the current situation in Northern Ireland to be an Armed Conflict, and with this in mind the Geneva Conventions do not apply. While the ICRC is mandated by states as guardian of the body of law applicable in Armed Conflict (i.e. International Humanitarian Law as detailed in the Geneva Conventions and its Additional Protocols), it is nevertheless concerned with situations of violence where there are significant humanitarian consequences for the civilian population.

“As such, the ICRC is concerned by the targeting of health care workers, of which this appears to be an example. At the upcoming International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, the ICRC will raise this issue as a broader problem of violence and obstruction of health care for those in need, as the right to health care is fundamental to any society.”

He pointed to the contents of the comprehensive document prepared for the forthcoming conference in Geneva.

The document, titled Health Care in Danger: Respecting and Protecting Health Care in Armed Conflict and Other Situations of Violence, comes amid growing intenrnational concerns about the safety of health care personnel.

It says: “Health-care personnel shall not be hindered in the performance of their exclusive medical tasks nor shall they be harassed for simply assisting the wounded and sick. Under IHL, the obligation to respect medical personnel who are performing exclusively medical duties also entails an obligation to refrain from arbitrarily interfering with those duties so as to allow the wounded and sick to be treated.

“Parties to a conflict shall not molest (harass? mistreat?) or punish medical personnel for performing activities compatible with medical ethics, nor shall they compel them to perform activities contrary to medical ethics or to refrain from performing acts required by medical ethics. These rules would preclude practices such as armed takeovers of hospitals by armed forces or groups who harass, intimidate or arrest health-care professionals. These practices are equally prohibited under IHRL.”