Global Pulse Blog

As a participant in the May 18th medical student day of action with the New York Coalition Against Torture, I would like to thank our readers for their support — whether in coming to Albany, contacting their NY state representatives, or signing the PHR petition. The event was very successful and inspiring, and  we have received a lot of positive feedback. I look forward to updating the GPJ community on the effort’s progress. In the meantime, I have a more detailed review of the event at the ACLU’s blog:

During the white-coat advocacy day on Tuesday, the medical student group conducted over 25 meetings with lawmakers and staff, met with the bill’s sponsors, and hand-delivered copies of the petition signed by hundreds of their peers and fellow New York State residents. They also conveyed the support of state and national professional organizations for this landmark legislation…(more)

The medical student action event was also mentioned on the Huffington Post and on PHR’s Health Rights Advocate blog. Since then, NYCAT has also released a letter of support for the Gottfried-Duane Bill signed by prominent leaders of medicine in New York state, including medical school deans, hospital CEOs, and Nobel Prize laureates.

Medical students and NYCAT members with Assemblyman Gottfried in Albany

Related reading:

• ACLU’s resources on torture
• The National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT)
• NRCAT, ACLU, and PHR: Working together against inhumane detention conditions at home?

UPDATE [06-08-2010]: PHR’s newest report, Experiments In Torture, raises concerns that the actions of CIA doctors who participated in waterboarding and other methods amounted to illegal human experimentation. Read coverage of the report in The New York Times and commentary at The Washington Post and The Atlantic.

Looking for ways to get involved closer to home? NRCAT has a list of events across the country for the month of June.

Related: China bans the use of torture in extracting confessions.

This event is organized by the New York Medical Student Coalition Against Torture (NYMSCAT@gmail.com). Email to learn more, request materials, and get involved!

As I have written previously, medical professionals, students, and human rights groups in New York State are teaming up for action to pass the nation’s first law holding medical professionals accountable for assisting torture and abuse of prisoners.  AMSA is proud to join the list of organizations putting their support behind the proposed legislation:

• National Physicians Alliance
• Committee for Interns and Residents
• American College of Physicians-NY
• NY State Nurses Association
• NY Civil Liberties Union
• Center for Constitutional Rights
• Human Rights Watch
• Amnesty International
• Physicians for Human Rights
• I Have A Dream Foundation
• Metro NY Religious Campaign Against Torture
• (full list and statements at whenhealersharm.org/)

ANTI-TORTURE LOBBY DAY in Albany: Join AMSA and PHR with medical students from across the state in our first Anti-Torture Lobby Day in Albany on May 18th!  This is our chance to meet with our local lawmakers and tell them that ending torture is important to us as ethical medical professionals and Americans.  We will meet at 9AM for a white-coat press conference and advocacy training with experts from the Bellevue/NYU Program for Survivors of Torture, and follow up with advocacy meetings.  If you are a NY State resident and a medical or pre-medical student, don’t miss this chance for real-time local action for human rights!

Don’t forget to sign the petition: Stop Torture NY.org

Read AMSA’s statement of support after the cut:

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