Khartoum: Rhino – The Preparatory Committee of the Sudanese Doctors’ Union called for a complete cessation of the involvement of doctors in intelligence and military operations, and for a commitment to protecting medical personnel and health facilities in accordance with international laws, as well as providing a safe environment that enables doctors to perform their humanitarian duties.
The committee affirmed its full commitment to the principles of international humanitarian law and all conventions and protocols governing medical practice during armed conflicts and wars, foremost among them the 1947 Nuremberg Charter, the 1948 Geneva Declaration, the 1949 Geneva Conventions, and the Additional Protocols. These legal frameworks oblige all parties to protect doctors, patients, and health facilities, and to ensure that they are not turned into military targets.
The committee added in a statement: “We affirm that any official statement that casts doubt on the professionalism of doctors or puts them at risk constitutes a direct threat to what remains of the humanitarian space in the country and may be interpreted as a pretext for further violations. We also warn of the serious repercussions of such statements and allegations on the safety of medical personnel and on civilians’ right to access life-saving health services, as merely portraying them as part of the military battle and dragging them into this conflict as a source of intelligence turns them into legitimate targets for all military parties and leads to further violations against them”.
It continued: “We reaffirm that we will not yield to any attempts to divert us from our core mission, which is to protect the lives of patients, ensure the safety of medical staff, and preserve what remains of our health facilities. Our commitment to professionalism in all its forms has made us advocates for a single professional army, opponents of militias and the proliferation of armies, and proponents of a state of institutions. We have fought for this and made great sacrifices and offered martyrs for the sake of a healthy nation that accommodates everyone”.
