'Duty to Refuse': Top Medical Groups Back Nurse Who Said 'No' to Force-Feeding Guantanamo Hunger Str

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Common Dreams

Published on Wednesday, November 19, 2014

by Common Dreams

'Duty to Refuse': Top Medical Groups Back Nurse Who Said 'No' to Force-Feeding Guantanamo Hunger Strikers

'Force-feeding a competent person is not the practice of medicine; it is aggravated assault.'

by Sarah Lazare, staff writer

Leading medical groups are speaking out in support of a U.S. Navy nurse who refused on ethical grounds to force-feed hunger strikers held captive at Guantanamo Bay.

The American Nurses Association announced Wednesday that they have penned letters to U.S. government and military officials strongly urging against any punishment or retaliation for the act of refusal, which occurred in July. The military is planning to try the unidentified nurse, who is an officer, before a Board of Inquiry, which could result in a dishonorable discharge that strips him of his veterans benefits.

"The ANA Code of Ethics for Nurses clearly supports the ethical right of a professional nurse to make an independent judgment about whether he or she should participate in this or any other such activity," reads an October 17 letter (pdf) to Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel from Pamela Cipriano, ANA president. "The military setting does not change the nurse’s ethical commitments or standards."

Doctor Vincent Iacopino, senior medical adviser for Physicians for Human Rights, told Common Dreams that his organization strongly supports the nurse's refusal to take part in the force-feeding of competent adults, which is banned by the World Medical Association and the American Medical Association and has been condemned by the office of the United Nations high commissioner for human rights as torture and a violation of international law.


Read more: http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=post&forum=1014

[jwirr]

1. Finally we have someone involved with Gitmo that knows the laws.

[truedelphi]

2. K & RF on this topic. And Judi Lynn, you consistently bring

Us really compelling articles to read here. Thanks for all the work you do.

[BeanMusical]

3. Kick and R.

[libodem]

4. .

He is no Lindy England.

[Judi Lynn]

5. Update: US urged not to punish objecting Guantanamo nurse

US urged not to punish objecting Guantanamo nurse
| November 19, 2014 | Updated: November 19, 2014 3:29pm

MIAMI (AP) — A Navy nurse who refused to take part in the force-feeding of prisoners on hunger strike at the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, acted within his rights and should be spared from military punishment, the president of the American Nurses Association said in a letter released Wednesday.

ANA President Pamela Cipriano said in the letter to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel that the nurse, a Navy lieutenant whose name has not been released, was expressing a legitimate ethical objection to the practice of administering liquid nutrients through a nasal-gastric tube to prisoners on hunger strike to protest their indefinite confinement.

"The ANA code of ethics for nurses clearly supports the ethical right of a professional nurse to make an independent judgment about whether he or she should participate in this or any other such activity," she said. "This right must be protected and exercised without concern for retaliation."

The military sent the nurse home early from his assignment at Guantanamo and he returned to his duty station at the Naval Health Clinic New England. His lawyer, Ron Meister, said a board of inquiry may be convened to consider whether he should be forced out of the service, possibly with the loss of his retirement and veteran benefits.

More:
http://www.chron.com/news/world/article/US-urged-not-to-punish-objecting-Guantanamo-nurse-5904103.php