Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

Eugene

(61,592 posts)
Mon Mar 7, 2016, 08:06 PM Mar 2016

Wars are being fought as in 'barbarian times', warns MSF chief

Source: The Guardian

Wars are being fought as in 'barbarian times', warns MSF chief

Charity head speaks out after hospital attacks and says focus on terrorism
is threatening the rules which govern warfare


Kareem Shaheen in Beirut
Monday 7 March 2016 11.58 GMT

Attacks against civilians in war zones across the world have grown more indiscriminate due to a myopic focus by the major global powers on fighting terrorism, the head of the international charity Médecins Sans Frontières has said.

In an interview with the Guardian, Joanne Liu, the Canadian physician and president of MSF, issued a broad indictment of how modern warfare is conducted, declaring that world powers have failed in their duty to uphold the rules of conflict, threatening a return to “barbarian times”.

“We are in a completely different way of rules of engagement in conflicts,” she said during a visit to Beirut. “I still believe that what the Geneva convention and international humanitarian law brought to conflict was to mitigate war on civilians, and by not respecting that we are going backwards a hundred years. It’s barbarian times. I don’t think in the 21st century we should allow ourselves to drift there.

“If the rules are to be changed, we want to be told,” she said.

The past few months have seen an increased ferocity of attacks on health facilities, especially in the Middle East.

[font size=1]-snip-[/font]


Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/07/wars-are-being-fought-as-in-barbarian-times-warns-medecins-san-frontieres-chief
1 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Wars are being fought as in 'barbarian times', warns MSF chief (Original Post) Eugene Mar 2016 OP
Resource wars are like that. nt bemildred Mar 2016 #1
Latest Discussions»Issue Forums»Foreign Affairs»Wars are being fought as ...