The medical community's response to torture

Second, passive participation in torture needs to be squarely addressed. A decade ago, the British Medical Association (BMA) urged a duty by doctors to take action to stop torture when they become aware of it.4 More recently, an international working group on dual loyalty and human rights in the health professions-defined as simultaneous obligations, express or implied, to a patient and to a third party, often the state-has proposed practice guidelines that would prohibit passive participation or silence in the face of torture. The report states that "a health professional passively participates [in torture] by permitting his or her clinical findings or treatment to be used by authorities to aid the process of torture."5 The proposed guidelines urge health professionals not to be present when torture takes place (usually for the purpose of medical monitoring of victims) and "to report violations of human rights that interfere with their ability to comply with their duty of loyalty to patients". National and international medical associations should adopt standards such as these, which create the expectation that physicians confronted with torture will act to stop it.