On Friday 23rd March, a number of Syrians were subjected to a European Union travel ban, and their assets frozen, including Asma al-Assad, the wife of President Bashar al-Assad. The direct reason for these names being added to an existing list is that email correspondence allegedly between them was leaked by activists, and was deemed to be sufficient proof of their active conspiracy in maintaining the regime through advice to the President and support for his repressive actions including, but not limited to, torture.
William Hague, the British Foreign Secretary, admitted that despite agreeing additional sanctions on the Syrian regime, they were powerless to stop Asma al-Assad from entering the United Kingdom. The reason is simple: she holds a British passport, because she was born on the 27th August 1975 in London.
Her parents still live in London, where her father Fawaz Akhras is a cardiologist. Dr Akhas, if the leaked emails published by The Guardian on the 15th of March are genuine, is actively involved in advising his son-in-law President Assad, on how to crack down on, and cover up, the deaths and torture of anti-government protestors in Syria. There is no evidence that he was involved in torturing anyone in the UK, but the selection of emails published is suggestive of an active involvement in Syria, possibly including using his medical knowledge as some of the advice given.
Dr Akhas continues to practise medicine in London, both at 126 Harley Street, and as a senior consultant cardiologist at the BUPA Cromwell Hospital. BUPA is the largest health insurance and health care provider in the United Kingdom; they repeatedly describe the BUPA Cromwell Hospital as their “flagship” London hospital. In the United States, BUPA owns a number of companies including Health Dialog and Amedex.
The US Department of State has long noted that funds inconsistent with Akhas’ status and salary have been flowing through his bank accounts.
Like Asma, I was born in London to foreign parents. And like her I have a connection to torture: I was, in the opinion of a consultant psychiatrist, badly tortured, though obviously not as badly as people in Syria. People occasionally think of me in terms of the fictional archaeologist Lara Croft – a friend produced her, it's a great movie and there are some superficial similarities, but it's not me. People forget that in real life bad things happen, and these have consequences. I was fortunate enough to have received excellent care for my PTSD, and was treated alongside patients covered by BUPA health insurance. But I will always be damaged. There were times in the past when death seemed preferable to living.
Dr Akhas’ involvement in, and support for, the killing and torture by the Syrian regime of his son-in-law President Assad strikes me unsuitable for a physician. He is “Fully registered (Specialist Register) with The General Medical Council” according to his own web site, so on Friday 23rd I formally registered a complaint with the GMC and asked them to investigate him for a breach of medical ethics.
At medical school Akhas must have learnt that torture is a crime with long term physical and psychological consequences. Psychological torture can be far more effective than physical torture, and the most effective torture in when a physician is involved and can prolong it almost to the point where death feels as if it would be a blessed alternative.
Going after Akhas for torture may be a little like pursuing Al Capone for tax evasion, but I hope he suffers a few sleepless nights, maybe enough to write himself a prescription for the sort of medication victims in Syria are denied.
Update: the GMC reply is disected here: http://phdiva.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/general-medical-council-torture-is-fine.html
Update: the GMC reply is disected here: http://phdiva.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/general-medical-council-torture-is-fine.html
