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Protecting the health sector in Colombia: A step to make the conflit less cruel

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 April 2010

Victor de Currea-Lugo
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Extract

Le conflit interne en Colombie a déjà fait un grand nombre de victimes et détruit une grande partie des infrastructures du pays, notamment celles de la santé. La survie du personnel médical est directement menacée par les actes de violences et, autre conséquence de cette situation, les services de santé n'arrivent plus à faire face aux besoins, en ce qui concerne les soins aux victimes des affrontements. La mission médicate est done en danger. Le présent article est issu d'une recherche sur les causes et sur le caractère des actes de violence commis contre le personnel medical. II présente en outre les mesures prises par la délégation du CICR sur place pour renforcer la sécurité de son personnel médical sur le terrain et contribuer ainsi à un meilleur respect du droit international humanitaire en Colombie.

Type
Research Article
Information
International Review of the Red Cross , Volume 83 , Issue 844 , December 2001 , pp. 1111 - 1126
Copyright
Copyright © International Committee of the Red Cross 2001

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References

1 Centro de Investigaciones Criminológicas de la Dirección de Policía Judicial, quoted in “23.096 homicidios en 1998”, El Espectador, Bogotá, 24 April 1999), p. 7A.

2 Defensoría del Pueblo (Ombudsman), Fifth report to the Congress, quoted in “Una masacre cada 48 horas durante 1998”, El Tiempo, Bogotá, 13 February 1999, p. 7A.

3 “En cuatro años, 4.925 secuestrados”, El Espectador, Bogotá, 5 May 1999, p. 6A.

4 “Cada día secuestran seis personas”, El Espectador, Bogotá, 27 April 1999, p. 7A.

5 “Una desaparición cada 24 horas”, El Espectador, Bogotá, 25 May 1999, p. 8A. – In 1996, 134 disappearances were recorded and 356 in 1997. Defensoría del Pueblo, Derechos Humanos para vivir en paz. Fifth report to the Congress, Bogotá, 1998, p. 31.

6 “La guerra desajusta la economía”, El Espectador, Bogotá, 13 June 1999, p. 3B.

7 “Sin seguridad en 133 municipios”, El Espectador, Bogotá, 7 June 1999, p. 10A.

8 Amnesty International, Crónicas del Terror y de la Dignidad, Report 1997, EDAI, Madrid, p. 145.

9 Report by the US State Department on the human rights situation in Colombia, 1999.

10 Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts (Protocol II), 8 June 1977.

11 Miné, J., “The Geneva Conventions and medical personnel in the field”, IRRC, March-April 1987, pp. 183/184.Google Scholar

12 On medical urgency as the sole valid criterion for favourable distinction, see Art. 12, First Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and the Sick in Armed Forces in the Field.

13 See in particular Protocol II, Part III, “Wounded, sick and shipwrecked”.

14 “Medical units and transports shall be respected and protected at all times and shall not be the object of attack.” Protocol II, Art. 11.

15 See also Protocol II, Art. 7, para. 2.

16 “The physician shall not expose his patient to unjustified risks.” Medical Ethics Act, 1981, Art. 15.

17 Sandoz, Y./Swinarski, C./Zimmermann, B., Commentary on the Additional Protocols of 8 June 1977 to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, ICRC/Martinus Nijhoff, Geneva, 1973, p. 430.Google Scholar

18 Ibid. p. 434.

19 Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol I), 8 June 1977, Art. 37.