הוועד הציבורי נגד עינויים בישראל

PCATI and PHR-Israel wrote to chair of the Israeli Medical Association (IMA) ethics committee, Prof. Avinoam Reches, claiming that the manner in which complaints concerning physician involvement in torture are investigated are flawed.

The letter, signed by Hadas Ziv, executive director of PHR-Israel and Dr. Ishai Menuchin, PCATI's executive director, claimed that detailed complaints of physician involvement in torture that the organizations submitted to the IMA were not adequately examined. This conclusion is based on Prof. Reches' reply to a letter in which the organizations detailed the grievances which are stem from cases described in PCATI's 2007 report "Ticking Bombs".

The organizations demand that the IMA conduct a comprehensive inquiry of the instances that were detailed before it.  If the IMA is incapable of conducting such an investigation, the organization directors conclude, the IMA should refer the matter to the Ministry of Health or Ministry of Justice. Further, the NGOs called on the IMA to raise awareness and to integrate the ethical code (regarding physicians and torture) in hospitals, and, especially, among physicians working in detention facilities.