Medical torture

* There have been numerous claims that [[electroconvulsive therapy]] and [[Leukotomy|prefrontal lobotomies]] and similar psychiatric treatments have sometimes been performed not in the patient's best interests, but rather as punishment for misbehaviour or to otherwise make the patient easier to manage. A classic example of this is the Lake Alice, New Zealand atrocity which occurred in the early 1970s. Children admitted to the [[Lake Alice Hospital]]'s open child and adolescent unit were routinely punished with unmodified ECT (that is, [[electroconvulsive therapy#Technique|ECT]] without anesthesia). Some governments (e.g. [[Norway]] and [[New Zealand]]) have since begun paying reparations to patients who suffered such treatments. The [[World Health Organization]] has called for a ban on unmodified ECT, and states no form of it should be used on children.{{Citation needed|date=April 2024}}

* There have been numerous claims that [[electroconvulsive therapy]] and [[Leukotomy|prefrontal lobotomies]] and similar psychiatric treatments have sometimes been performed not in the patient's best interests, but rather as punishment for misbehaviour or to otherwise make the patient easier to manage. A classic example of this is the Lake Alice, New Zealand atrocity which occurred in the early 1970s. Children admitted to the [[Lake Alice Hospital]]'s open child and adolescent unit were routinely punished with unmodified ECT (that is, [[electroconvulsive therapy#Technique|ECT]] without anesthesia). Some governments (e.g. [[Norway]] and [[New Zealand]]) have since begun paying reparations to patients who suffered such treatments. The [[World Health Organization]] has called for a ban on unmodified ECT, and states no form of it should be used on children.{{Citation needed|date=April 2024}}

* In 2016, a group consisting of 71 British medical doctors urged that [[Israel]]'s membership in the [[World Medical Association]] should be revoked, alleging that Israeli doctors performed state-endorsed "medical torture" on Palestinians.<ref name="israel">{{cite web|url=http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/British-doctors-seek-to-expel-Israel-from-World-Medical-Association-442215|title=British doctors seek to expel Israel from World Medical Association|date=20 January 2016 }}</ref> However, no official motion for expulsion was ever filed.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/world-medical-body-rejects-claims-israel-should-be-expelled|title=World medical body will not expel Israel|website=www.timesofisrael.com|language=en-GB|access-date=2021-08-27}}</ref>

* In 2016, a group consisting of 71 British medical doctors urged that [[Israel]]'s membership in the [[World Medical Association]] should be revoked, alleging that Israeli doctors performed state-endorsed "medical torture" on Palestinians.<ref name="israel">{{cite web|url=http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/British-doctors-seek-to-expel-Israel-from-World-Medical-Association-442215|title=British doctors seek to expel Israel from World Medical Association|date=20 January 2016 }}</ref> However, no official motion for expulsion was ever filed.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/world-medical-body-rejects-claims-israel-should-be-expelled|title=World medical body will not expel Israel|website=www.timesofisrael.com|language=en-GB|access-date=2021-08-27}}</ref>

* British doctors and medical journals have repeatedly accused and documented Israeli medical personnel of participating in torture. The first accusations surfaced in 1993 where doctors in military employ as well as in hospitals were implicated. <ref>{{Cite journal |last=Summerfield |first=Derek |date=2014-07-09 |title=The campaign about doctors and torture in Israel five years on |url=https://www.bmj.com/content/349/bmj.g4386 |journal=BMJ |language=en |volume=349 |pages=g4386 |doi=10.1136/bmj.g4386 |issn=1756-1833 |pmid=25009074|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Gulland's accusation that Israeli doctors were "involved in torture, either directly or indirectly"<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gulland |first=Anne |date=2011-11-07 |title=Doctors in Israeli detention facilities are complicit in torture, says report |url=https://www.bmj.com/content/343/bmj.d7200 |journal=BMJ |language=en |volume=343 |pages=d7200 |doi=10.1136/bmj.d7200 |issn=0959-8138 |pmid=22065659|url-access=subscription }}</ref> were echoed in 2013 by Forrest<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Forrest |first=Duncan |date=1996-08-01 |title=Torture: Human Rights, Medical Ethics and the Case of Israel |url=https://jme.bmj.com/content/22/4/251 |journal=Journal of Medical Ethics |language=en |volume=22 |issue=4 |pages=251–252 |doi=10.1136/jme.22.4.251 |issn=0306-6800}}</ref> and Devi<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Devi |first=Sharmila |date=2013-03-09 |title=Israeli doctors accused of collusion in torture |url=https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(13)60612-1/fulltext |journal=The Lancet |language=English |volume=381 |issue=9869 |pages=794 |doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(13)60612-1 |issn=0140-6736 |pmid=23668498|url-access=subscription }}</ref>. In 2024, the director of Gaza City’s al-Shifa Hospital, the paediatrician Mohammed Abu Salmiya reported that Israeli doctors and nurses participated in beatings and torture of prisoners at the notorious Sde Teiman camp.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Dyer |first=Owen |date=2024-07-10 |title=Israeli doctors participated in torture, alleges released director of al-Shifa Hospital |url=https://www.bmj.com/content/386/bmj.q1524 |journal=BMJ |language=en |volume=386 |pages=q1524 |doi=10.1136/bmj.q1524 |issn=1756-1833 |pmid=38986564 |url-access=subscription}}</ref>

* British doctors and medical journals have repeatedly accused and documented Israeli medical personnel of participating in torture. The first accusations surfaced in 1993 where doctors in military employ as well as in hospitals were implicated. <ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Summerfield |first=Derek |date=2014-07-09 |title=The campaign about doctors and torture in Israel five years on |url=https://www.bmj.com/content/349/bmj.g4386 |journal=BMJ |language=en |volume=349 |pages=g4386 |doi=10.1136/bmj.g4386 |issn=1756-1833 |pmid=25009074|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Gulland's accusation that Israeli doctors were "involved in torture, either directly or indirectly"<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Gulland |first=Anne |date=2011-11-07 |title=Doctors in Israeli detention facilities are complicit in torture, says report |url=https://www.bmj.com/content/343/bmj.d7200 |journal=BMJ |language=en |volume=343 |pages=d7200 |doi=10.1136/bmj.d7200 |issn=0959-8138 |pmid=22065659|url-access=subscription }}</ref> were echoed in 2013 by Forrest<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Forrest |first=Duncan |date=1996-08-01 |title=Torture: Human Rights, Medical Ethics and the Case of Israel |url=https://jme.bmj.com/content/22/4/251 |journal=Journal of Medical Ethics |language=en |volume=22 |issue=4 |pages=251–252 |doi=10.1136/jme.22.4.251 |issn=0306-6800}}</ref> and Devi<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last=Devi |first=Sharmila |date=2013-03-09 |title=Israeli doctors accused of collusion in torture |url=https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(13)60612-1/fulltext |journal=The Lancet |language=English |volume=381 |issue=9869 |pages=794 |doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(13)60612-1 |issn=0140-6736 |pmid=23668498|url-access=subscription }}</ref>. In 2024, the director of Gaza City’s al-Shifa Hospital, the paediatrician Mohammed Abu Salmiya reported that Israeli doctors and nurses participated in beatings and torture of prisoners at the notorious Sde Teiman camp.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Dyer |first=Owen |date=2024-07-10 |title=Israeli doctors participated in torture, alleges released director of al-Shifa Hospital |url=https://www.bmj.com/content/386/bmj.q1524 |journal=BMJ |language=en |volume=386 |pages=q1524 |doi=10.1136/bmj.q1524 |issn=1756-1833 |pmid=38986564 |url-access=subscription}}</ref>

==Purported medical or professional complicity==

==Purported medical or professional complicity==

=== United States of America ===

According to the [[Center for Constitutional Rights]]' When Healers Harm campaign, health professionals were complicit in the torture and abuse of detainees during U.S. President [[George W. Bush]]'s "[[war on terror]]". Health professionals, including medical doctors, psychiatrists, medical examiners, psychologists, and nurses, have been implicated in the torture and abuse of prisoners in [[CIA]] secret prisons and military detention centers, such as those in [[Guantánamo Bay detention camp|Guantánamo]], [[Afghanistan]], and [[Iraq]].

According to the [[Center for Constitutional Rights]]' When Healers Harm campaign, health professionals were complicit in the torture and abuse of detainees during U.S. President [[George W. Bush]]'s "[[war on terror]]". Health professionals, including medical doctors, psychiatrists, medical examiners, psychologists, and nurses, have been implicated in the torture and abuse of prisoners in [[CIA]] secret prisons and military detention centers, such as those in [[Guantánamo Bay detention camp|Guantánamo]], [[Afghanistan]], and [[Iraq]].

Although the [[American Medical Association]] has made clear that physicians should not be involved in interrogations of any kind, it continues to insist that it has “no specific knowledge of doctors being involved in abuse or torture,” despite evidence to the contrary, including government documents and [[Office of Legal Counsel]] memos, a report by the [[International Committee of the Red Cross]] and multiple accounts by survivors.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://armed-services.senate.gov/Publications/Detainee%20Report%20Final_April%2022%202009.pdf |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2009-04-25 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090429200942/http://armed-services.senate.gov/Publications/Detainee%20Report%20Final_April%2022%202009.pdf |archivedate=2009-04-29 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.aclu.org/safefree/general/olc_memos.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090131064431/http://www.aclu.org/safefree/general/olc_memos.html |archive-date=2009-01-31 |title=American Civil Liberties Union : Office of Legal Counsel Memos}}</ref>

Although the [[American Medical Association]] has made clear that physicians should not be involved in interrogations of any kind, it continues to insist that it has “no specific knowledge of doctors being involved in abuse or torture,” despite evidence to the contrary, including government documents and [[Office of Legal Counsel]] memos, a report by the [[International Committee of the Red Cross]] and multiple accounts by survivors.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://armed-services.senate.gov/Publications/Detainee%20Report%20Final_April%2022%202009.pdf |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2009-04-25 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090429200942/http://armed-services.senate.gov/Publications/Detainee%20Report%20Final_April%2022%202009.pdf |archivedate=2009-04-29 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.aclu.org/safefree/general/olc_memos.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090131064431/http://www.aclu.org/safefree/general/olc_memos.html |archive-date=2009-01-31 |title=American Civil Liberties Union : Office of Legal Counsel Memos}}</ref>

=== Israel ===

British doctors and medical journals have repeatedly accused and documented Israeli medical personnel of participating in torture. The first accusations surfaced in 1993 where doctors in military employ as well as in hospitals were implicated. <ref name=":0" /> Gulland's accusation that Israeli doctors were "involved in torture, either directly or indirectly"<ref name=":1" /> were echoed in 2013 by Forrest<ref name=":2" /> and Devi<ref name=":3" />.

The documentary ''[[Gaza: Doctors Under Attack]]'' featured an Israeli medical professional who witnessed Israeli medical personnel performing a painful procedure without anesthesia as a form of vengeance, and "recognized it as international torture".<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-06-30 |title=WATCH NOW: 'Gaza: Doctors Under Attack' – The Full Film They Didn't Want You To See |url=https://zeteo.com/p/watch-now-gaza-doctors-under-attack |access-date=2025-07-04 |website=zeteo.com |at=54:00 |language=en}}</ref>

Some other accounts of medical or professional complicity in torture include:

Some other accounts of medical or professional complicity in torture include: