Medical arm of the forces: Swiss News witnesses the course on Law of Armed Conflict with the international audience of medical officers and dwells on some interesting issues with course commander, Hans Ulrich Baer.
| Auteur | Heddema, Renske |
In 1999, the Swiss Ministry of Defence started organising regular summer courses on the Law of Armed Conflict for an international audience of medical officers. Each summer military doctors and lawyers from an increasing number of countries gather in the panoramic scenery of the Bernese Oberland to learn the developments in this highly sensitive field.
Clearly one should try to protect people in war, minimise suffering and find the way back to peace as soon as possible. But what is one to say when soldiers do not wear uniforms anymore, individuals fight using airplanes full of people, and turn their own bodies into arms? Do they then still have the right to a humane treatment when caught? The first to encounter these difficult questions are doctors. And this is why the Swiss Ministry of Defence decided to formulate such a course.
"Doctors in the army," says course commander Hans Ulrich Baer, a surgeon at a private clinic in his civilian life. "are bound to their promise to help the wounded and to safe lives. Yet military doctors also have to obey orders from their commander." As Baer conducts his group of medical officers--three of whom hold the rank of general--to the top of the Stockhorn, he points out that the ethical dilemma of doctors has increased in recent times.
Although Baer refrains from giving opinions, he has made warfare in times of terrorism the central theme of this year's course. On behalf of the ICMM, the International Committee of Military Medicine, Switzerland, as a neutral country, puts together the curriculum and serves as a host for the international group.
A Chinese General visibly enjoys the breathtaking views. An Indian General, a gracious lady gynaecologist, who heads a training unit of the Indian army, interacts with the others wearing a white sari on this trip. She has reserved her green uniform-sari with hill decorations for the classroom. Medical officers from Chile, Malaysia, military pastors and lawyers from Croatia, Norway and Canada are all present.
At 3,500 metres above sea level, Col. Baer takes some time off to speak to Swiss News:
Swiss News: What exactly has changed in international military law since 9/11 2001?
Hans Ulrich Baer: The law always lags behind practical developments. The international humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions and Protocols have been established half a century ago, in reaction to World War II. This war was mainly characterised by land armies fighting each other, and...
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