Recently, a bill concerning amendments to Article 137 of the Criminal Code of the Kyrgyz Republic regarding torture was reviewed in the Jogorku Kenesh. Now, responsibility for torture may fall not only on officials but also on other workers, including medical personnel. Surabaldiyeva expressed concern: "The country is already short of doctors. Graduates of KGMA are required to serve for five years. Will these amendments lead to us being left without doctors?"
“We have long been addressing this issue. The medical community is against torture. Torture is evil, and such evil should not exist in hospitals. It must be punishable. Torture represents violence by state officials aimed at punishment or obtaining information. If torture lacks a specific purpose, it becomes cruel and degrading to human dignity,” Baryktabasova noted, adding that patients, especially in psychiatric hospitals, are in a vulnerable position.
Medical workers who cause suffering to patients should be immediately excluded from the profession and deprived of the right to practice medicine for life,” she emphasized.
Baryktabasova also noted that according to international agreements, medical professionals cannot be witnesses or participants in torture, and their silence will be regarded as complicity.
The union leader is confident that the deputy should not worry about the outflow of doctors due to tightening legislation. “It’s better for all perpetrators to leave the profession, and only kind and compassionate medical professionals to remain. Previously, only officials were held accountable under the article on 'Torture.' Now the law extends to all medical personnel, including orderlies and nurses, for mistreatment of patients. This is absolutely correct. Hospitals are not meant for violence against patients. Medicine should reduce suffering, not increase it,” she added.
The full text of the independent union leader's comment can be found in the post below:
The image on the main page is for illustrative purposes: medicinaonline.co.
