As happened in Asheville, NC, and imitating Israeli military attacks agains Palestinian health clinics Federal agents are destroying medical equipment and stations in Portland, OR.
by Meteor staff
Thursday, July 23
Federal authorities are accused of violating the Geneva Convention after apparently destroying medical equipment during protests in Portland.
Reporter Sergio Olmos shared a video on Twitter Tuesday night showing medical supplies and protective gear covered in an orange liquid.
“It appears that federal officers, during dispersal, pepper sprayed the medical supplies in the tents,” Olmos wrote.
This is Fubar. The Geneva Convention states that destroying medical equipment is a war crime violation. Yet, here we are in Portland. #PortlandProtests https://t.co/AONC6X8lZj
— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) July 23, 2020
“This is Fubar. The Geneva Convention states that destroying medical equipment is a war crime violation. Yet, here we are in Portland,” Fiegl-Ding wrote.
In another tweet, he added: “Attacking medical units violates half a dozen conventions and international statutes, not only Geneva Convention but also International Criminal Court statutes. But hey, Chad Wolf, Bill Barr, and Trump say it’s okay!”
Feigl-Ding added: “Folks arguing “but but but Geneva Convention only for armed conflict between uniformed armies”… ha, if that is the only defense of their actions, then one is entirely missing the moral emptiness & heartless callousness of the actions. Also Geneva protects non combatants too.
“Fixed establishments and mobile medical units of the Medical Service may in no circumstances be attacked, but shall at all times be respected and protected by the Parties to the conflict,” Article 19 of the 1949 Geneva Convention states.
Feigl-Ding also noted that the “sheer volume” of spray on the supplies shows that it had been a deliberate effort to destroy medical equipment.
“The claim that, ‘oh its an errant spray’ doesn’t explain the sheer volume of CS used on all of them,” he wrote. “This was a point blank concentrated spraying to contaminant and destroy medical equipment. Slashing protestor water bottle stations in DC was one thing, but this is next level.”
An article in the 1998 International Criminal Court Statute says “[i]ntentionally directing attacks against … hospitals and places where the sick and the wounded are collected, provided they are not military objectives” constitutes a war crime in both international and non-international armed conflicts.
“Volunteer medics should be celebrated, not attacked or arrested,” Jann Carson, the interim executive director of the ACLU of Oregon, said in a statement. “Our clients are volunteering day and night to provide aid to the injured and to create a safer environment for protesters and bystanders. These attacks are unconscionable as well as unconstitutional. This lawlessness must end.”
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have been contacted for comment but have not responded.
