IMA cuts ties with PHR over call for ouster of Israeli head of World Medical Association
By Dan EvenHaaretz 10 August 2009
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1106397.html
In an unprecedented move, the Israel Medical Association announced this
month that it was severing its contacts with the Israeli branch of
Physicians for Human Rights.
The decision was made after the president and founder of PHR-Israel, Ruchama
Marton, signed an international petition calling for Dr. Yoram Blachar's
ouster as president of the World Medical Association. Blachar is also
president of the IMA. Advertisement
But PHR insisted that Marton signed the petition in her individual capacity
and not on behalf of the organization. "The organization does not support
the dismissal of Dr. Blachar from the presidency of the World Medical
Association and calls for professional conduct to be maintained," said PHR's
director, Hadas Ziv.
Marton added: "The petition was naturally signed by private individuals and
not organizations. I am happy that I signed, but I signed as a private
individual."
In his letter to PHR, Blachar wrote: "The damage caused by [your]
organization is great. We have pleaded with the organization's
administration to refrain from using the international arena to besmirch and
sling mud at Israel's doctors, but to no avail. We have decided to cut off
all contact with the organization, and I hope you deal with the matter as
your conscience dictates."
His announcement sparked harsh criticism from PHR, a nonprofit organization
whose members include some 500 Israeli physicians, among them senior
doctors. Most PHR volunteers are also members of the IMA, which represents
about 95 percent of Israeli doctors.
PHR warned that the decision to sever contact would cause serious damage to
the medical system, including by disrupting patient referrals between the
clinics for foreign workers and refugees that the IMA and PHR both run in
south Tel Aviv.
It also expressed concern about how the rupture would affect exchanges of
data regarding patients, including prisoners, who need treatment, and
professional cooperation to promote issues such as the elimination of
patient copayments for medication.
"The severing of contact is serious," said PHR's Ziv. "We are not interested
in taking steps that make the situation worse; we believe in dialogue
instead."
Criticism echoed
Several local physicians who volunteer for PHR echoed the organization's
criticisms.
The IMA said its exceptional decision was made in light of the cooperation
between PHR and Derek Summerfield, a British physician who claims that
Blachar has justified torture of prisoners for over 10 years. Summerfield
was one of the initiators of the petition to depose Blachar as president of
the World Medical Association. To date, the petition has attracted 725
signatories from 43 countries. But the IMA recently circulated a
counterpetition in support of Blachar's presidency that has attracted 5,500
signatures.
Blachar's term as IMA head will end in September after three terms in
office. His successor as president of the World Medical Association is
expected to be elected in October.
PHR recently released a list of 12 physicians who, according to testimony in
a report published by the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel,
participated in the torture of Palestinians. But IMA ethics committee
chairman Prof. Avinoam Reches, who looked into the matter, concluded that
there is no evidence linking these physicians to torture.
"I was provided with the names of physicians who denied in every way
possible that they engaged in torture in the course of interrogations,"
Reches said. "The ethics committee has no legal power to investigate the
allegations beyond talking [to the doctors]. From the doctors' tone, my
impression was that they are telling the truth."
PHR's Ziv said in response that "the Israel Medical Association conducts
complex ethics investigations, but in this instance, it avoided a
comprehensive examination."
Moreover, PHR members said, the chief physician of the Israel Prison Service
is a member of the IMA ethics committee, and that could influence the
standard of the IMA's investigation.
Blachar, however, said the IMA "has explicitly stated our opposition to the
torture of prisoners and detainees jailed in Israel ever since the High
Court of Justice ruling [on the subject] in 1999."
"Dr. Marton is president of Physicians for Human Rights, and her signature
is identified with the organization," Blachar added. "If the organization
says it will stop its activity in the international arena to defame, slander
and sling mud at Israel's doctors, we could reconsider contacts with it."
The IMA's legal department decided last week to file a defamation action
against Summerfield, the British physician who was one of the initiators of
the petition drive against Blachar.
--------------------------------------------
IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis
Website: www.imra.org.il
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1106397.html
In an unprecedented move, the Israel Medical Association announced this
month that it was severing its contacts with the Israeli branch of
Physicians for Human Rights.
The decision was made after the president and founder of PHR-Israel, Ruchama
Marton, signed an international petition calling for Dr. Yoram Blachar's
ouster as president of the World Medical Association. Blachar is also
president of the IMA. Advertisement
But PHR insisted that Marton signed the petition in her individual capacity
and not on behalf of the organization. "The organization does not support
the dismissal of Dr. Blachar from the presidency of the World Medical
Association and calls for professional conduct to be maintained," said PHR's
director, Hadas Ziv.
Marton added: "The petition was naturally signed by private individuals and
not organizations. I am happy that I signed, but I signed as a private
individual."
In his letter to PHR, Blachar wrote: "The damage caused by [your]
organization is great. We have pleaded with the organization's
administration to refrain from using the international arena to besmirch and
sling mud at Israel's doctors, but to no avail. We have decided to cut off
all contact with the organization, and I hope you deal with the matter as
your conscience dictates."
His announcement sparked harsh criticism from PHR, a nonprofit organization
whose members include some 500 Israeli physicians, among them senior
doctors. Most PHR volunteers are also members of the IMA, which represents
about 95 percent of Israeli doctors.
PHR warned that the decision to sever contact would cause serious damage to
the medical system, including by disrupting patient referrals between the
clinics for foreign workers and refugees that the IMA and PHR both run in
south Tel Aviv.
It also expressed concern about how the rupture would affect exchanges of
data regarding patients, including prisoners, who need treatment, and
professional cooperation to promote issues such as the elimination of
patient copayments for medication.
"The severing of contact is serious," said PHR's Ziv. "We are not interested
in taking steps that make the situation worse; we believe in dialogue
instead."
Criticism echoed
Several local physicians who volunteer for PHR echoed the organization's
criticisms.
The IMA said its exceptional decision was made in light of the cooperation
between PHR and Derek Summerfield, a British physician who claims that
Blachar has justified torture of prisoners for over 10 years. Summerfield
was one of the initiators of the petition to depose Blachar as president of
the World Medical Association. To date, the petition has attracted 725
signatories from 43 countries. But the IMA recently circulated a
counterpetition in support of Blachar's presidency that has attracted 5,500
signatures.
Blachar's term as IMA head will end in September after three terms in
office. His successor as president of the World Medical Association is
expected to be elected in October.
PHR recently released a list of 12 physicians who, according to testimony in
a report published by the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel,
participated in the torture of Palestinians. But IMA ethics committee
chairman Prof. Avinoam Reches, who looked into the matter, concluded that
there is no evidence linking these physicians to torture.
"I was provided with the names of physicians who denied in every way
possible that they engaged in torture in the course of interrogations,"
Reches said. "The ethics committee has no legal power to investigate the
allegations beyond talking [to the doctors]. From the doctors' tone, my
impression was that they are telling the truth."
PHR's Ziv said in response that "the Israel Medical Association conducts
complex ethics investigations, but in this instance, it avoided a
comprehensive examination."
Moreover, PHR members said, the chief physician of the Israel Prison Service
is a member of the IMA ethics committee, and that could influence the
standard of the IMA's investigation.
Blachar, however, said the IMA "has explicitly stated our opposition to the
torture of prisoners and detainees jailed in Israel ever since the High
Court of Justice ruling [on the subject] in 1999."
"Dr. Marton is president of Physicians for Human Rights, and her signature
is identified with the organization," Blachar added. "If the organization
says it will stop its activity in the international arena to defame, slander
and sling mud at Israel's doctors, we could reconsider contacts with it."
The IMA's legal department decided last week to file a defamation action
against Summerfield, the British physician who was one of the initiators of
the petition drive against Blachar.
--------------------------------------------
IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis
Website: www.imra.org.il
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