Gordon N. & Marton R. (eds.) Torture. Human Rights, Medical Ethics and the Case of Israel

Zed Books, 1995. — 228 p.Torture: Human Rights, Medical Ethics and the Case of Israel edited by Neve Gordon and Ruchama Marton helps us to understand torture and the international issues it raises. It focuses on Israel, where over 400,000 Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza have been detailed or gaoled since 1967. Its sober analysis and evidence are supplemented by action-oriented recommendations for the international campaign against torture, rehabilitation, and for medical ethics. It includes the full texts of relevant international declarations and medical codes. This book is a contribution to our understanding of the ongoing practice of torture and the issues raised for society as a whole and the medical profession in particular. Despite the ongoing faltering peace process, the Israeli security forces still lock up and ill-treat several thousand people annually. That is why this book is a timely examination of torture in Israel and the Occupied Territories.ContentsForeword
Acknowledgements
List of abbreviations
List of contributors
IntroductionPart 1 The public realm
Associations
Political evil: legalized and concealed sadism
The social response to torture in Israel
Workshop: strategies for an international campaign against torture in IsraelPart II Participation of health professionals in the practice of torture: the struggle against it
The white coat passes like a shadow: the health profession and torture in Israel
The conflict between medical ethics and security measures
The role of codes of medical ethics in the prevention of torture
Where Is the Israeli Medical Association?
Workshop: codes of medical ethics as a tool in the struggle against torturePart IlI The legal struggle against torture
The history of the legal struggle against torture in Israel
Medico-legal death investigation in Israel
The modern inquisition state
Workshop: possibilities for change through the courtsPart IV Rehabilitation of torture victims Evidence of the use of torture
Torture and mental health: a survey of the experience of Palestinians in Israeli prisons
Compensation suits as an instrument in the rehabilitation of tortured people
The Medical Foundation and its commitment to human rights and rehabilitation
Workshop: processes and questions involved in establishing a rehabilitation centreAppendix A International declarations concerning torture
Convention against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (1984)
Body of principles for the protection of all persons under any form of detention or imprisonment (1988)Appendix B Codes of medical ethics concerning torture
Hippocratic oath
Prayer of Moses
Maimonides
Declaration of Tokyo (1975)
Principles of medical ethics (1982)
International code of medical ethics (1983)
Ethical principles relative to the medical care of detainees (1985)
Statement of Madrid (1989)
Declaration of Hawaii (1983)
Statement on the role of the nurse in the care of detainees and prisoners (1975)
Statement on the nurse’s role in safeguarding human rights (1989)
Statement on nurses and torture (1989)Appendix C Documents concerning the practice of torture in Israel
Proposed bill for the prohibition of torture as an amendment to Israeli penal law (1992)
Letter to the Minister of Justice Letter presented by the conference on the international struggle against torture and the case of Israel
Proposal for an addendum to the Israeli Medical Association’s code of ethics
Evidence of torture in Israel: affidavits of survivors
Medical form of ‘Fitness for Torture’ used by the Department of InterrogationIndex