On June 29, Thom Hartmann, a national progressive talk show host, spent a captivating half-hour discussing the United States' torture policies under President George W. Bush. A good portion of that segment focused on PHR's "extaordinary report" Broken Laws, Broken Lives: Medical Evidence of Torture by US Personnel and Its Impact, from which he read extensively:[display_podcast]Complete podcasts of The Thom Hartmann Show are archived on The White Rose Society website.
The Honduran army has been ordered to capture Luther Castillo, MD, and shoot him if he resists arrest, the Medical Education Cooperation with Cuba (MEDICC) reports. Dr. Castillo, an indigenous Graifuna physician,? is an advocate for the health of rural Hondurans and has spoken out against the recent coup.After attending medical school in Cuba, Dr. Castillo returned to his native M?skito Coast, a poor and rural area of Honduras, to bring the first medical care to the region. He helped found the Luaga Hatuadi Waduhe?u project ("for the health of our people" in the Graifuna language). As part of the project, he is working to build the Ciriboya Community Hospital and recently toured the United States to raise money for its construction. The project? now serves 80,000 people.In 2007, Dr. Castillo was named "Honduran Doctor of the Year" by Rotary International's Tegucigalpa chapter.? He was recently appointed Director of International Cooperation in the Honduran Foreign Ministry.The OAS Inter-American Commission on Human Rights deemed Dr. Castillo "at risk" in a July 3?communiqu_.PHR's Washington Director, John Bradshaw, sent letters to Secretary of State Clinton, the Assistant Secretary of Western Hemisphere Affairs and the Assistant Secretary of the Office of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, urging them to ensure Dr. Castillo's safety.
Dr. Castillo needs your help! Please call the State Department ask Secretary Clinton to urge the Honduran government to protect Dr. Castillo, his colleagues and everyone protesting the coup.During your call, identify yourself as a medical professional and emphasize the importance of Dr. Castillo's medical work.State Department phone number: 202-647-4000Sample call script:
I am a health professional, and I am calling to urge the Secretary of State to press the Honduran government to protect Dr. Luther Castillo, his colleagues, and everyone protesting the coup. The Honduran army has orders to arrest Dr. Castillo and, if he resists, to shoot him. Dr. Castillo is an indigenous doctor who has worked tirelessly to bring healthcare to the rural poor of Honduras. Please work to protect this vital health advocate.
Every 9.5 minutes there is one new HIV infection in the US and forty-five new infections worldwide. This is unacceptable.Earlier today, I joined a group of medical students, health professionals and other concerned citizens to rally for increased funding for HIV/AIDS programs in the US and around the world.
1-2-3-4, AIDS funding, we want more
we chanted while marching toward the Massachusetts State Capitol Building.
5-6-7-8, AIDS funding cannot wait.
And that’s when the torrential rain began. The group clustered together, juggling signs and umbrellas while continuing to chant. We only paused the chanting to take out our cell phones for a group call to Congressional leaders.This week, Congressional appropriators are in the process of setting funding levels for global and domestic HIV/AIDS programs. Levels under consideration are drastically short of what is needed to fulfill US commitments to fight AIDS at home and abroad. We are already hearing about cutbacks from our partners in Uganda and we must act now to ensure that critical programs are fully funded. The Senate Appropriations Committee is schedule to consider global AIDS funding levels tomorrow, Wednesday, July 8.President Obama’s new global health initiative calls for $63 billion over six years for all global health programs. Physicians for Human Rights estimates that the HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria programs supported by PEPFAR alone need at least $60 billion over six years. PHR also estimates that a total of at least $95 billion over six years is needed for all of the global health initiatives outlined in President Obama’s plan and to meet all US global health commitments. We have the resources and the responsibility. We don’t have to choose between HIV/AIDS programs and other global health initiatives.The rally is part of a coordinated effort of dozens of HIV/AIDS advocacy organizations across the country calling on leaders in Congress to strengthen US commitments to HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment programs. From June 30-July 7, activists have called upon Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to increase funding levels. The event today in Boston was co-sponsored by Physicians for Human Rights, the American Medical Student Association, Our Bodies, Ourselves and Health Care for All.
The rally ended with one last round of chanting and a rousing group cheer. As our group began to disperse, the rain stopped and the sun came out.
You can join our efforts today by calling on Congress to fully fund HIV/AIDS programs. Pick up your phone and call Senator Reid, Speaker of the House Pelosi, and members of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Thanks for taking this important action!In addition to making calls to Senator Reid and Speaker Pelosi, we need you to make a special call your Senator if she or he is on the important Senate Appropriations Committee, which has a? say in all funding issues before Congress. Ask your Senate Appropriations Committee member to support fulfillment of the US commitments to fight AIDS.Here is the list of Senators:
| Democrats: | Republicans: |
| Daniel Inouye?(Hawaii),?ChairmanRobert Byrd?(W. Va)Patrick Leahy?(Vt.)Tom Harkin?(Iowa)Barbara Mikulski?(Md.)Herb Kohl?(Wis.)Patty Murray?(Wash.)Byron Dorgan?(N.D.)Dianne Feinstein?(Calif.)Richard Durbin?(Ill.)Tim Johnson?(S.D.)Mary Landrieu?(La.)Jack Reed?(R.I.)Frank Lautenberg?(N.J.)Ben Nelson?(Neb.)Mark Pryor?(Ark.)Jon Tester?(Mon.) | Thad Cochran?(Miss.),Ranking MemberArlen Specter?(Pa.)Kit Bond?(Mo.)Mitch McConnell?(Ky.)Richard Shelby?(Ala.)Judd Gregg?(N.H.)Robert Bennett?(Utah)Kay Bailey Hutchison(Texas)Sam Brownback?(Kan.)Susan Collins?(Maine)Lamar Alexander?(Tenn.)George Voinovich?(Ohio)Lisa Murkowski?(Alaska) |
If you are represented by one of the Senators above, please call their office and urge them to use their position on the Appropriations Committee to support increased funding for the fight against AIDS.Here is is instructions and a sample script you can you can use:Call 202-224-3121Ask to be connected to your Senator listed, above.Sample Script:
It looks like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is about to take a big step towards lifting the nation's draconian restrictions denying people living with HIV entry into the United States. The CDC planned to publish a proposed new rule in yesterday's Federal Register that would remove HIV from the definition of "communicable disease of public health significance."The Department of Health and Human Services, CDC's parent agency, withdrew the proposed rule yesterday morning because they "inadvertently submitted an incomplete version of the proposed regulation."? We're hopeful that they will publish the complete version this week.If the draft rule is published and finalized after a public comment and review period, the US will finally have HIV entry policies rooted in sound public health and human rights practices.The 45 days after publication will be crucial as we organize to generate public comments in support of the rule change. PHR will mobilize our members to show strong support among health professionals and students for lifting US entry restrictions on people living with HIV/AIDS.Many of you joined with us in earlier phases of this campaign and we'll need your your help again. We'll be sending out an action alert with details about how to comment and key messages to include as soon as the draft rules are published. Stay tuned!
Thom Hartmann, a national progressive talk show host, today featured on his show a discussion of PHR's report Broken Laws, Broken Lives: Medical Evidence of Torture by US Personnel and Its Impact. A transcript of the feature is expected to be available.Mr. Hartmann spent several minutes quoting from various areas of the report, and commenting on what he was reading. He made clear his disgust with what the men who agreed to be in the report, who were never charged with any wrongdoing, had been put through. He also addressed the Obama administration's reluctance to "look back" and bring the people responsible for the torture treatment to justice.For more information on the report, see the website BrokenLives.info.
With hearings and debates scheduled in Congress in the coming weeks global AIDS funding is in the news once again. ?Health Action AIDS Campaign Director Pat Daoust responded to recent coverage in the Boston Globe with a hard-hitting letter to the editor. She strongly rebuts the notion that "Africa is covered in HIV/AIDS money:"
[T]hey are turning away patients in need of treatment because of stagnating funding levels. With drug stocks dwindling, they run the very real risk of returning to the days when one member of a family received treatment as their spouses and children left clinics empty-handed and were left to die.
One of PHR's partners on the ground, HIV/AIDS pioneer Peter Mugyeni, MD, has already been forced to make cuts in his PEPFAR funded program. Dr. Mugyenyi has a dire forecast of what's to come if the US does not fulfill its commitments.It has never been a question of funding HIV/AIDS programs? OR other global health initiatives, it is imperative we do both. Pat concludes:
[W]e must remember that the United States has the resources and the responsibility to keep its promise to scaling up HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention programs while at the same time strengthening its commitment to other critical global health initiatives. The nation's leaders must commit to doing both.
PHR is mobilizing to pressure Congress and President Obama to keep their commitments to fight AIDS. Please join us by meeting with your Senator during the July 4th recess when they will be in your home state. We can help you through the process of scheduling and will provide training ?and talking points for the meeting. So far we are workign to schedule meetings with 8 key Senators, many of whom PHR advocates like you met with during the Global AIDS Month of Action. Contact Sarah Kalloch, Director of Outreach, at skalloch [at] phrusa [dot] org to find out how.
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I was recently interviewed about three Sri Lankan physicians who treated civilians and disseminated information on the health crisis in the conflict zone. You can listen to the four-minute interview, above.When taking the Hippocratic Oath, a doctor makes a promise to his or her patients to “keep them from harm and injustice." But the Government of Sri Lanka has failed to uphold its own pledge to protect these medical professionals. Instead of protecting the doctors, government authorities have detained them incommunicado and have denied them their right to legal counsel.Last month, Physicians for Human Rights called on the Sri Lankan government to
release the doctors immediately and to respect their rights to legal counsel and to receive medical care as well as family visits.
Now, more than three weeks after government forces issued their detention orders, Thangamutha Sathiyamoorthy, MD, and V. Shanmugarajah, MD, remain in police custody at the Central Investigating Division (CID) in Colombo, while Thurairaja Vartharajah, MD, is reportedly receiving treatment in a Colombo hospital.Under the Sri Lankan Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), the doctors can be detained if they are suspected of unlawful activity, and their detention may be extended every three months for up to 18 months total. According to Mahinda Samarasinghe, Sri Lanka’s Human Rights Minister, investigations could last for more than a year.But what have the doctors done wrong, and why are they still detained?According to a health ministry official speaking on condition of anonymity to the Associated Press, the three doctors
were detained on accusations that they gave false information about the casualties to the media.
Darma Wanninayake, a ministry spokesman, told The Guardian that the doctors’ statements embarrassed the government. In addition, the BBC reported that the physicians had stated that some of the shelling came from government positions and killed civilians.But was the information the doctors provided false? Unlikely. A report from The Times gave convincing evidence that some of the shelling did indeed come from the government side.
Independent defense experts, who analyzed dozens of aerial photographs taken by The Times said that the arrangement of the army and rebel firing positions and the narrowness of the no-fire zone made it unlikely that Tiger mortar fire or artillery caused a significant number of deaths.
These photographs lend credibility to the doctors' statements to the media.The University Teachers for Human Rights, a Jaffna-based organization that reports on human rights violations, believes
the doctors were controversial because their assessments of the local situation differed from that of the Government … [especially] the report that a single mortar shell hit the admissions ward.
As medical professionals, the three doctors adhered to the World Medical Association International Code of Medical Ethics, which calls on them to
recognize their independent professional judgment [and to] bear in mind the obligation to respect human life.
In the conflict zone, the doctors reported that children suffered from malnutrition and of severe food shortages. In effect, they spoke out to protect the lives of their patients in accordance with their professional medical ethics.By detaining and interrogating the three doctors for adhering to medical ethics, the Government of Sri Lanka has violated Article 10.1 of the Additional Protocol II of the Geneva Convention, which states that
under no circumstances shall any person be punished for having carried out medical activities compatible with medical ethics.
As the fighting came to an end, three doctors hired by the Sri Lankan government continued to treat civilians in the war-torn region. They also spoke publicly about what was happening there. Now they've been arrested. The government says they colluded with the Tamil Tigers, but others say they knew too much about atrocities committed during the war. World Vision interviews Richard Sollom of the group Physicians for Human Rights on the topic.
Source: WorldVision Report
PHR received this letter of thanks from Binayak Sen and his wife Ilina following his release from detention:
Our heartfelt?thanks?to all those who associated themselves with the nationwide?and international?campaign for the release of Dr. Binayak Sen. ?The outcome of?the campaign has vindicated?our stand?and is a glowing affirmation to?the voice of the people.We?thank especially all who took part in the?demonstrations and satyagraha [non-violent resistance] in Raipur and other cities, and the distinguished legal voices that upheld our cause at different times.? We also thank the many friends who offered us their warmth and friendship in bleak times.We?remember also at this time?the many others who continue to be incarcerated?under similar charges, the many prisoners who are victims of a legal system that?makes nonsense of their lives, and the thousands upon thousands of our compatriots who?remain displaced, terrorized, and hungry.Binayak and Ilina