Torture and the medical profession: a review.

Current knowledge about doctor participation in torture was reviewed at the symposium Torture and the Medical Profession. This particular topic has received increasing attention during the last few years, and the meeting may be seen as one in a series, following particularly Doctors, Ethics, and Torture in Copenhagen, 1986 and Physicians, Ethics, and Torture in Montevideo 1987 (1,2). The background for the meeting, as well as the recommendations emanating from it, are reviewed, including the call for an international tribunal to evaluate doctors alleged to have been involved in torture.