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Torture As An Ethical Problem
N. Yasemin OĞUZ*
* Assoc.Prof., Dept. of Deontology, Medical School of Ankara University, ANKARA, TURKEY
Some specified norms are virtually absolute, and therefore usually escape the need to be balance. The prohibition of torture is of this kind, where this action is defined as the gratuitous infliction of pain and suffering. Torture is defined as the conscious infliction of physical or psychological pain on a person in order to punish or terrorize him or her.
Physicians can be involved in torture in either active or passive ways. If a physician does not examine a patient properly or does not examine him or her at all, or examines a detained or sentenced patient in the presence of an authority figure, letting the patient wear a blind fold and/or handcuffs during the examination, ignores or just fails to notice the signs of torture in the examination, or writes inappropriate reports, can be charged with passive involvement. Physicians' attempts to remove the signs of torture at any time during the patient's interrogation indicates an apparent involvement in torture. A physician can be charged with active involvement in torture when he/she provides help for the continuation of torture, or discloses information about his/her patient's medical problems or uses his/her medical knowledge in order to provide the torturers with clues to invent new and effective methods for torture. There is no moral difference between active or passive involvement in torture.
A physician can face different kinds of ethical dilemmas during an encounter with torture victims. The major dilemmas include; a physician can be forced to choose between his/her life and his/her obligation to protect the torture victim; between his/her responsibility to protect the patient's life and restore health and to contribute to the continuation of the torture, when the treatment helps the torturer to attain his/her objectives; and the best interest of third parties and the torture victim in cases where torture seems to be justifiable. All of the international declarations and ethical codes emphasize the moral responsibility of the physician not to be involved in torture. But these theoretical texts are far from being practical and applicable solutions to the problem.
Health, by definition, is hampered by torture, because torture irreversibly damages a person for a life time. Therefore, torture itself is a phenomenon which physicians must try to eradicate as a moral duty.Keywords: Torture, Physicians' duties, EthicsT Klin J Med Ethics, 2000, 8:83-89
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