The Medical Association of Barcelona (CoMB) position statement on the repeated attacks of hospitals and other health facilities in areas of conflict Last week, the most recent bombing of Al Quds hospital in the city of Aleppo (Northern Syria) caused the death of more than twenty people, including medical personnel. After this tragic event, the CoMB would like to declare: 1.
Our consternation and outrage at events that we can only qualify as savage and inhuman. This despicable action harms the weakest sectors of society and violates International Humanitarian Law, which mandates special protection for health facilities in time of war.
2.
This sort of attack has been carried out time and time again over the last few years with complete impunity, not only in Syria, but also in other areas of the world where there is conflict (Yemen, Afghanistan, Iraq, Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Congo, etc.). We ask national and international authorities to take the necessary measures to stop these barbarous actions and to enforce the accords of the Geneva Conventions, especially the IV Geneva Convention on the protection of civilians in time of war.
3.
We want to express our firm and heartfelt support and recognition for the doctors and other medical personnel –whether they are locals or international aid workers— who work in these areas. They carry out a heroic task day after day, serving the sick in precarious conditions and in areas at war, even if this often means putting their own lives at risk.
4.
We would like to denounce the situation of extreme risk and desperation faced by thousands of individuals who cannot flee from war and who, with the destruction of hospitals and other health facilities, are left without any hope of their wounds or illnesses being properly treated. As an example of this, Al Quds Hospital was the principal centre for pediatric care in its area. Its destruction ended the life of Dr. Mohammed Wasim Moaz, one of the few pediatricians who still remained in the city of Aleppo.
5.
We would also like to express our most profound horror and outrage at any kind of attack on the civilian population in time of war. We believe that the destruction of hospitals is one of the most outrageous of these actions, because beyond its direct consequences it symbolizes the destruction of any glimmer of humanity in a context of total barbarity.
6.
We ask our political representatives to help make our outrage and our petitions heard, so that they might reach those who have the power to avert these kinds of crimes. Barcelona, May 3d 2016