Cure This - human rights

"This law will make me feel like a Nazi" - AZ officer on SB1070

los anjalis — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 00:07:44 GMT

"This law will make me feel like a Nazi out there. I have a great deal of contempt for it; I’m very emotional about it... This law is - pure and simple - a racist law."

In the lead-up to the implementation of SB1070, the Arizona law known commonly as "papers please", it is heartening to see a police officer in AZ speak up against it:

He very clearly states why this law is a huge health/human rights violation:

"So under SB1070 I know that people will not call officers in the case of a real emergency. I could see this type of scenario: a woman is being beaten by her husband or her significant other. And, if I show up, and I develop reasonable suspicion, or LESS, even, that the person that is a perpetrator in this case, is in this country extralegally, i'm going to start heading in the direction of asking the victim of the case, are you here illegally? I will have to arrest both of them -- I'll be required to -- and both will be deported. It violates our calling to serve and protect. It violates, under our Constitution, the requirement to serve and protect."

Thanks to the savvy folks at Cuentame for collecting video testimonials. And check out Alto Arizona for actions in Arizona this week, and solidarity actions you can join in your own towns and states.

Is Healthcare a Right...Yet?

cameronpage — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 19:08:34 GMT

A recent CNBC segment posed the question of whether healthcare is a right. They brought on commentators to argue in favor and against, one from the Cato Institute and one from the National Physicians Alliance. (The segment is posted on this page below...thanks Anjali!)

The host started by posing the question to the conservative commentator, Michael Cannon. "I think it should be a right," he replied. "And therefore I think physicians should work for nothing." Sarcasm notwithstanding, his point was clear: healthcare cannot be a right because it involves payment. The exchange of goods and services for money equals capitalism, which puts healthcare squarely in the category of commodity.

Mr. Cannon backed up his point by contrasting healthcare with other things we commonly think of as human rights, like freedom of speech and religion. No one has to be paid in order to let us speak freely and worship freely, he implied, which is why they are rights and healthcare is not.

This argument is persuasive. We like to think that a human right is something you are born with, not something that has to be given. The very phrase 'freedom of speech' suggests its simplicity: just let people speak! It's not that hard! Healthcare, on the other hand, is not accomplished by standing aside and letting citizens exercise their freedoms. For healthcare to be your human right, something has to actively be done to you.

But is it true that freedom of speech requires no involvement by the government? Let's imagine taking a trip to place where there is very little government, for example Somalia. You might have the basic human right to freedom of speech there, but it's not worth much. If you stand on a milk crate (assuming you can find one) and give a speech that others find disagreeable, those people may choose to gag you, stuff you in the trunk of a car, drive you 20 miles out of town, and perhaps kill you. The government has done nothing to take away your freedom of speech, but they haven't done anything to protect it either.

We often ignore the role of infrastructure, such as our police force and civil and criminal court system, in allowing rights like freedom of speech and religion to flourish. The U.S. legal system is a highly complex bureaucracy, and it plays an important role in keeping the right to free speech alive.

The same principles apply in healthcare. We have a complex bureaucracy in place --- doctors, nurses, hospitals --- to protect our right to health. There's no difference, in principle, between free speech and healthcare, so why is one an unquestioned human right while the other is relegated to a commodity?

In fact, no matter what human right you can name, there is an infrastructure in place to protect and defend it. And the professionals who manage that infrastructure need to get paid. So it's foolish logic to argue that since doctors are paid a salary, healthcare cannot be a right.
Now, an opponent of the idea that healthcare is a right could argue that sure, the legal system keeps freedom of speech alive. But it also does other things. We would need cops and judges around to deal with violent crime, even if society had no right to free speech. So the added cost to society from having freedom of speech is pretty minimal.

But the same argument could be made for healthcare. The medical industry has to exist regardless of whether healthcare is a right or not. Once again we can see that healthcare and freedom of speech are identical.

Still, let's be generous. Let's say we do accept the distinction that Mr. Cannon was trying to make when he drew a bright line between healthcare and freedom of speech. I think what he was trying to get at was that there are two types of rights. And actually, he's correct. Philosophers and ethicists commonly refer to them as "positive" rights and "negative" rights.

In the U.S., we are very comfortable with the latter category. Negative rights are when a person has the right not to have something done to him. For example, the right not to be tortured, not be persecuted for your religion, and not to be thrown in jail for disagreeing with the government.

Healthcare falls into the category of positive rights, for obvious reasons. (i realize, by the way, that i'm not using the strict philosophical definition of these terms. If you really care, check this out.) We Americans, when polled on this subject, have always been uncomfortable with positive rights. Positive rights seem to imply whininess, laziness, petulantly asking others for help.

But positive rights are actually a strong part of our tradition. Universal public education was introduced in the U.S. in the late 1800s, and today it is as American as apple pie. Ask any fourth-grader if she has a right to go to high school, and you'll get a quizzical look because the answer is so obvious. We still fight about ways to improve education in the U.S., but no one has seriously proposed abolishing the public school system. Why? Because we understand what an incredible boon to our country it has been to have a well-educated workforce.

So we've established that healthcare, from the standpoint of principles, is no different than other accepted human rights. And from a practical standpoint, we see that Americans already support rights that are very similar to healthcare, like education.

So it seems to me that healthcare is a right. Other people, of course, can disagree. What they can't do is pretend that there are objective, empiric differences between healthcare and other accepted human rights.

Doctors for Global Health Statement Denouncing Israel Bombing of Gaza

los anjalis — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 03:40:07 GMT

Doctors for Global Health Statement Denouncing Israel Bombing of Gaza
Doctors for Global Health adds its voice with those around the world in denouncing the air strikes on Gaza conducted by Israel in recent days that continue to this day.
While it is clear that rocket fire by Hamas militants against civilians should be ended because it does not help end the occupation and is also illegal under international law, Israel's response represents collective punishment on the entire Gaza population, clearly in violation of the Geneva Conventions.
Israel's disproportionately violent military attack, targeting of civilians and total blockade of the Gaza strip further violate these Conventions. Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHR) and the Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRS) in Ramallah state that the health system in Gaza, in a state of near-collapse due to the blockade imposed for the last one and a half years, is overwhelmed by the current crisis and cannot provide adequate care for the hundreds of wounded and dying. The bombing of the major medicines and medical supplies store has destroyed critically needed pharmaceuticals and materials. PHR and PMRS estimate that one million dollars is needed to restock these lost supplies. Closing of all border crossings has made it impossible to transfer the severely wounded outside of Gaza to get the care they need and for necessary medical supplies to be brought in.
As US and World citizens, we appeal to our elected representatives to push publicly for the immediate cessation of bombing and reinstatement of the cease-fire pending resumption of fairly moderated peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians.
As an organization, we have signed the Open Letter sent to President-Elect Obama drafted by the "US Campaign to End the Occupation" and signed by many peace, religious and grassroots' organizations. At this time of crisis, we are in solidarity with those in Palestine and Israel who are fighting for their survival and the respect of their basic human rights.
In solidarity for human rights for all,
Board of Directors, Doctors for Global Health
Submitted 1 January 2009

Gaza, through the lens of human rights and healthcare violations

los anjalis — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 00:49:39 GMT

As Cure This is a space for discussion and news on health and human rights around the world, and on what people are doing around the world to address these, talking about what's happening in Gaza can't (and shouldn't) be avoided. There is no simple answer to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine, but the current conflict MUST be viewed through the lens of human rights. It's also important to place this current conflict in the context of an already sick, weak and hungry Gaza population (the 1.5 million people of Gaza have been locked into Gaza without adequate food, clean water and other basic needs like medical care for several months now, as a result of what their government is doing (throwing rockets into Israel) which brings up issues of punishing whole civilian populations for what an elected government is doing. This is something we can relate to here in the US, given we would not want collective punishment of our people by an outside military because of the atrocities that President George Bush has committed in Iraq and elsewhere.

This is the 2nd of several posts about the direct healthcare and human rights consequences of the conflict. Videos and interviews with doctors and medical staff in the region will be shared in the upcoming posts, as well as information on legal/illegal uses of chemical and other weapons. The point is to document and to discuss. I implore users to discuss this constructively, without personal attacks.

On January 5th, just a few days into the conflict (it continues still today), a Norwegian doctor who arrived in Palestine on New Years Eve discusses his experiences in the hospital he's volunteering in:

"it's like hell here now, and there's been bombing all night, close to 500 people have been killed, and the number of casualties... of which 50 percent are women and children.
"We have been doing surgery around the clock. i just talked to one of my colleagues in the ICU who has not been sleeping for 3 days. the hospital is overcrowded, we have 6-7 operating rooms and there are injuries you just don't want to see in this world. children coming in with open abdomens and legs cut off. and the only crime they have done is being civilians, palestinians, living in gaza."
"to be honest we came on new years eve in the morning. i've seen one military person. there are hundreds of civilians that we have seen and treated.
this is an all out war against the civilian palestinian population in gaza... you have to remember that the average age fo the gaza inhabitants is 17 years, it's a very young population, and 80 percent are living below the poverty level set by the UN.
they are able to escape absolutely nowhere. they cannot flee like other populations can in wartime because they are locked in, in a cage. so they are bombing one and a half million people in a cage. you cannot separate between the military and civilian population."

And from a New York Times front page article "Gaza Hospital Fills Up, Mainly with Civilians":

The scene on Sunday at the hospital, a singular and grisly reflection of the violence around it, was both harrowing and puzzling. A week ago, when Israel began its air assault, hundreds of Hamas militants were taken to the hospital. Yet on Sunday, the day Israeli troops flooded Gaza and ground battles with Hamas began, there appeared not to be a single one.
The casualties at Shifa on Sunday - 18 dead, hospital officials said, among a reported 30 around Gaza - were women, children and men who had been with children. One surgeon said that he had performed five amputations.
"I don't know what kind of weapons Israel is using," said a nurse, Ziad Abd al Jawwad, 41, who had been working 24 hours without a break. "There is so much amputation."
"It's so hard when you do it to women," he said, adding grimly that even the devastating 1967 war here was over in six days.
For nine days now, doctors have been battling to keep Shifa running under the most adverse circumstances. Sanitation workers constantly mop up blood while Hamas security officers stand guard. But scant resources are being stretched to a breaking point, and a terrible stench is in the air.
Dr. Mads Gilbert, a Norwegian who was allowed into Gaza last week to give emergency medical aid, and who has worked in many conflict zones, said the situation was the worst he had seen.
The hospital lacked everything, he said: monitors, anesthesia, surgical equipment, heaters and spare parts. Israeli bombing nearby blew out windows, and like the rest of Gaza, here the severely limited fuel supplies were running low.
Oved Yehezkel, the Israeli cabinet secretary, said Sunday that from the information at Israel's disposal, "there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza."
Many here would dispute that. With power lines down, much of Gaza has no electricity. There is a dire shortage of cooking gas.

Health, Human Rights, and Gaza

los anjalis — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 04:25:43 GMT

Yesterday was the bloodiest day of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict since 1967. The human rights crisis in Gaza has reached unbearable heights. Check out Global Voices Online's "Palestine: The Bloodiest Day since 1967" and LA Macha's post "Attacks on Gaza".

This attack occurred after months of Israel sealing off Gaza, cutting off electricity, clean water, and medical care for months now, as punishment for the Hamas' actions.

Please feel free to post (productive, not hate-filled) comments about this situation, specifically about violence and human rights, or post your own diary on the situation.

Dignity

los anjalis — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 21:16:50 GMT

Joan Kelly reflects on Hurricane Katrina 3 years later:

I think of how dignity is not seen as a human rights issue, how the ability to not-feel humiliated and ashamed is not considered a basic need but rather a standard-of-living issue, for those who can afford what it takes to insure it.
I can't get it out of my head, and I am not over it, and I do not forgive this country for failing to be jolted into more love instead of less of it, afterwards.

Mother's Day & the week forward: Action Alert - No mother should lose her child to a cluster bomb

los anjalis — Mon, 12 May 2008 05:26:00 GMT

Check out this moving video on cluster bombs:

And this letter from Physicians for Human Rights and several other major human rights organizations in the US and abroad.

Time for action? CIVIC (The Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict) is making an urgent appeal to us to call our Senators and ask them to cosponsor the Cluster Munitions Civilian Protection Act (S.594/H.R. 1755). They've supplied us with the tools we need, and with a list of the Senators who have cosponsored the Senate bill and have made a goal of generating six new co-sponsors in the Senate in the next two weeks.

They say on this Mother's Day:

No mother should lose her child to a cluster bomblet. Unfortunately, you - as a CIVIC supporter - know that children are drawn to unexploded cluster submunitions thinking they are toys. Kids between the ages of 5-15 account for almost half of the world's cluster bomb deaths and injuries.

And here's a short video with their Executive Director in Lebanon, talking about cluster bombs:

Alright let's get to it. One or two phone calls. Common sense legislation.

Lastly -- the author of the hit comic series Get Your War On, David Rees, wrote about the presidential candidates and cluster bombs (and about how they were the initial impetus for him to start his GYWO comic strip). He's a huge activist in this area, and shared that Senator Clinton rejected a proposed ban on cluster bombs back in 2006 (a different proposed ban) because she didn't want to seem soft on terror. On the other hand, Senator Obama strongly supported this ban. (on the Republican side, McCain rejected the ban).

Let's give this gift of action to our mothers and to mothers around the world. And pass on this CIVIC action alert (remember, the goal is to get more cosponsors in the next two weeks!).

Dith Pran, human rights activist, rest in peace

los anjalis — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 05:53:07 GMT

Courage, persistence, justice. A man who embodied all three with great honor -- Dith Pran -- passed away two days ago.

His personal struggle among the larger struggle of the Cambodian holocaust under the Khmer Rouge was the basis of the very moving film The Killing Fields. The New York Times (where he was a photojournalist until his diagnosis of pancreatic cancer), published an article on his life and contributions, and a multimedia piece featuring Dith Pran's last words. Both are powerful.

Dith Pran's photos are phenomenal, and portrayed the true tragedy of what went on in Cambodia. Photojournalism is such a powerful way of informing the world of the horrors that we don't otherwise have access to. At least in the American media, photojournalism in times of recent war (like that in Iraq) is virtually nonexistent.

But back to Dith Pran. His life-long hope was to have perpetrators of war crimes in Cambodia tried for their crimes (2 million people were killed during the reign of the Khmer Rouge). Pol Pot, the head of the Khmer Rouge, died under "house arrest" in the 1990's. But preparations are finally underway for trials for the other leaders of that regime.

On a final note -- Janet Wu wrote about Dith Pran in the Boston Globe yesterday:

"I often wondered how, without outward anger or hatred, he so calmly campaigned against the guilty, many of whom had escaped into the jungles, eluding justice. Dith Pran was the opposite of the man who nearly killed him. For the last two decades of his life, Pol Pot hid like a coward in the jungles bordering Thailand, protected by a cadre of brainwashed teenage soldiers. Dith Pran stood firm. He never fled. He never wavered in his quest for justice."

A lesson for us all.

Gaza break: "the desperate acts of a desperate people"

los anjalis — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 07:45:00 GMT

"If Gaza is the world's biggest prison, this is the world's biggest prison break."
- a reporter

Today, I heard about a massive break through the GazaStrip/Egypt border wall by Palestinians earlier today and couldn't believe the radio. I knew that Israel had placed tighter restrictions on movement of food, fuel, and necessary medical supplies to Palestinians in the Gaza strip for a long while, and that for the last few days had completely cut off ALL supplies to Gaza (hence the prison reference), but I had to find out more.

Some background: there's been a major health crisis in Gaza, where many Palestinians have been barred from receiving health care (even emergency care). A Palestinian physician blogging from Gaza wrote the following on her blog, From Gaza, With Love:

In 2 hours all of the Gaza Strip will sink into darkness completely
Sunday 20 January 2008
I am writing to let you know that in less than 2 hours the last turbine of the Gaza Strip's only power plant will stop working. The fuel for the power plant fuel will run out in 2 hours.
I hurried to recharge my laptop and my mobile and to wash the clothes. I checked my candles and rechargeable lights !!!!!! I telephoned Al-Awda hospital and was really panicked to learn that we have only have enough fuel for 4 days for the electrical generator!!!!! What more details shall I give?
No electricity leads to no pumped fresh water and no proper sewage system which in turn leads to more diseases and more needs for different surgical operations. But after 4 days no emergency operations can be conducted in our hospitals.
Israel sealed the Gaza Strip completely and strictly on Friday. Even the UN food supplies are not allowed to enter Gaza. 80% of the population at the moment depends on the UN aid and different international aid agencies. The UN staff are also not allowed to leave or enter Gaza. And while Israel is sealing the Gaza Strip it is at the same time intensifying air raids and military ground operations against Gaza. In the last few days 37 people were killed and 120 were injured. Most of them are civilians. It is a desperate attempt to stop the rockets from Gaza against the Israeli villages where the Israeli citizens are complaining of panic attacks. This response with such overreacted operations against Gaza is unjustified. The cutting off of power and fuel is frank collective punishment.
I AM WRITING TO TELL YOU PLEASE DO SOMETHING FOR US IN GAZA
1.5 million of Gaza are dying slowly. They need your help and support. Tell the world that Israel's search for peace and security will not be achieved by this collective punishment against us.

and 1 month ago she wrote this:

The siege against Gaza has completed its six months 1.5 million of population are not allowed to travel outside Gaza ,many essential medications are not on the local pharmacies shelves as well as the hospital drug stores , tens of necessary goods are lacking only 15 kinds of goods are allowed to enter Gaza regularly , severe shortage of detergents, no cars spare parts , irregular electrical power ,most of local small industries has closed down due to lack of raw materials hundreds of local employees were made redundant , 39 patients have died before getting permit to leave Gaza for treatment in Israel , at least 2000 patients with different urgent health needs, including children with heart diseases and cancer patients , are waiting to be referred for further treatment outside the Gaza strip.

John Ging, head of the United Nations Relief and Work Agency in Gaza, called the exodus "the desperate acts of a desperate people."

Check out video of the events today after the jump...

Live blogging from El Salvador!

los anjalis — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 01:00:00 GMT

We are about 200 of us (or perhaps more).

We are American physicians and international volunteers, El Salvadorean doctors and health promoters (promotoras) and community organizers, and people of similar persuasions from other Central American countries.

We are gathered in El Salvador for the 12th annual general assembly of Doctors for Global Health, an organization that was founded in 1995 by Lanny Smith, a mentor and inspiring physician in the US who spent 6 years in El Salvador working with others to empower communities around health. This gathering in El Salvador is the first general assembly outside of the US, and my friends and I are pretty lucky to experience it.

The setup: Pre-conference day trip to a town called Santa Marta. This town is full of progressive community organizers who have shown sustainable improvements in community health through various programs.

Next -- 3 days of an inspiring conference, breakout sessions, and cultural entertainment at a beautiful and quaint retreat center in San Salvador.

Lastly -- a two-day trip to Morazon, in north-east El Salvador -- to listen to the community there discuss their successes, strategies, and struggles around health empowerment.

What a revolutionary ride it is -- to experience El Salvador, the energy here, and a health conference so broadly inclusive of the social determinants of health (poverty, housing, gender, food, etc). More to follow...

And lastly, some info on Doctors for Global Health from their website:

Though many of us are health professionals, our solutions extend far beyond the medical. We volunteer our time and expertise in communities that invite us to join them. We fund and support local projects that build on the energy, creativity and passion of local leaders. We educate and advocate for domestic and foreign policies that promote justice and peace. We accompany communities in fulfilling health and other human rights...
Every community we accompany has unique strengths and needs, but they all share a common thread: The health inequities they face are symptoms of larger social, economic and political injustices. Malnutrition, poverty, preventable death and violence all violate basic human rights. As global citizens, we must name and challenge these injustices.