Complicity
BMJ 2005; 330 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.330.7484.181 (Published 20 January 2005) Cite this as: BMJ 2005;330:181
All rapid responses
Rapid responses are electronic comments to the editor. They enable our users to debate issues raised in articles published on bmj.com. A rapid response is first posted online. If you need the URL (web address) of an individual response, simply click on the response headline and copy the URL from the browser window. A proportion of responses will, after editing, be published online and in the print journal as letters, which are indexed in PubMed. Rapid responses are not indexed in PubMed and they are not journal articles. The BMJ reserves the right to remove responses which are being wilfully misrepresented as published articles or when it is brought to our attention that a response spreads misinformation.
From March 2022, the word limit for rapid responses will be 600 words not including references and author details. We will no longer post responses that exceed this limit.
The word limit for letters selected from posted responses remains 300 words.
As a Greek Cypriot American I found your story to be a bit of history
that touched me from both sides, receiving and delivering. It isn't clear
whether you released the young men to the police for "questioning". I like
to think not. My uncle was 19 then and was tortured to the point where
even today he will not talk about it. My best friend was killed by the
Turks in 1974. He was only 15. On the other side I am ashamed of what
happened in the jails in Iraq and Cuba.
It is my belief that humans have the "Lord of the Flies" syndrome. If
unchecked we behave like animals. We are like every other animal, the big
swallow the small. The only difference is that we don't eat each other,
but we do take each other’s food.
In the end it seems to me that cruelty is part of our primitive
behavior and we can only rid ourselves of it via evolution. Thus it will
take a very long time.
But, we have no choice than to keep trying.
Pessimistic? Yes!
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests
Complicity now?
John Dewhurst writes of the risks of complicity when working in the
RAMC in Cyprus in 1958. Dare I point out active complicity today?
The invasion and occuption of Iraq have been declared illegal by Kofi
Annan. Many from varied walks of life believed this from the start.
If the war and occupation are illegal then all who aid and abet them
are committing crimes by doing so. If the doctors and other health staff
involved had refused to serve in this disgraceful affair, the government
would have found it hard or even impossible to start the war.
If doctors could stand up and refuse complicity this would encourage
others to do likewise. They do however need somewhere to turn, when in
doubt, for advice on the what is right.
What are the views of the GMC on these doctors activities? Can the
BMA, Doctors for Human Rights,the Medical Foundation give advice, please?
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests