Emergency USA

EMERGENCY USA is a USA based organization devoted to the promotion of a culture of solidarity, peace and respect for human rights.
EMERGENCY USA provides support to projects that offer free, high quality medical and surgical treatment for the victims of war and poverty.

News

April 19, 2010

Official Press Release from EMERGENCY 

EMERGENCY, in conjunction with the Italian embassy, is arranging the homecoming of Matteo Dell’Aira, Marco Garatti and Matteo Pagani, which is expected to take place in the next few days, as soon as aircraft matters are ascertained.

EMERGENCY has learned from Italian press reports that closure of the Lashkar-gah hospital would be one of the conditions for the release of its personnel. EMERGENCY has had no notification of the sort, or with regard to any type of agreements. The officials of the Afghan security services stated to journalists the same information that was confirmed to our personnel: that they were freed and found not guilty of any wrong doing. Thus, their release is not based on any type of agreement, but on assertion of the facts.

All decisions to be made with regard to the reopening of the Lashkar-gah hospital will be taken by EMERGENCY in collaboration with the Afghan Ministry of Health.

Last night, reportedly by the press, some of the other Afghan EMERGENCY staff members who had been taken into custody together with the three Italians, have also been freed. EMERGENCY lawyers continue to follow the situation and conditions of the Afghan personnel. 

April 18, 2010

THREE EMERGENCY STAFF MEMBERS FREED

Sunday, April 18. Matteo Dell'Aira, Marco Garatti, and Matteo Pagani Guazzugli Bonaiuti, who were being detained in an Afghan security services facility, have been freed with no indictments charged against them. Finally, after an agonizing week with no access to legal recourse, as prescribed by Afghan law, they will be able to contact their families and colleagues.

We thank everyone in Italy, Afghanistan, and worldwide who worked in collaboration with EMERGENCY to attain their release.

Attorneys appointed by EMERGENCY continue to work on the case with regard to the Afghan staff members still being detained by the security services, and whose news, health conditions, legal status, or location are still being withheld.

April 14, 2010

Milan, Italy - For 96 hours we have not had any official news regarding the EMERGENCY staff being held by the National Directorate of Security (NDS), the Afghan secret service agency.

Neither EMERGENCY, nor the families of the nine EMERGENCY staff members taken away 96 hours ago (including Italian nationals Matteo Dell’Aira, Marco Garatti and Matteo Pagani) have received any official news regarding their condition.

We have had no updates regarding the state of their health, and thus far we have no knowledge as to whether formal charges have been brought against them, or whether they have been able to see any attorneys; even though legal counsel has been appointed by EMERGENCY.

We have learned that they are still at the NDS facility in the Helmand region. The NDS reports directly to the National Security Council and ultimately to President Karzai. It is continually the focus of many grievances by international organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International for repeated human rights violations and for a failure to recognize legal rights for those detained under current Afghan law.

Therefore, we ask the Foreign Ministry again to do everything in its power to secure guarantees regarding our colleagues health and safety and their timely release.

April 13, 2010

The six EMERGENCY employees who were still in Lashkar-gah after the combined raid on the EMERGENCY hospital carried out by the Afghan police and intelligence agents, and the NATO-ISAF military forces, have reached Kabul.

Among the six people are a logistician from the Kabul hospital who went to Lashkar-gah immediately after the raid, as well as an anesthetist, three Italian nurses and an Indian physiotherapist who were all working in the facility. Following the incident which led to the detainment of Marco Garatti, Matteo Dell’Aira and Matteo Pagani, the staff had been staying at the international staff house in the city.

After the raid, the remaining EMERGENCY staff was not allowed to re-enter the hospital, and EMERGENCY no longer holds responsibility for any activity within the hospital.

The 72-hour detention limit has expired, and no information has been released concerning the legal status of those being confined; Marco Garatti, Matteo Dell’Aira and Matteo Pagani. EMERGENCY has yet to be informed of the charges being brought against them.  In addition, it is unknown whether or not they have been notified of their legal rights, including the possibility of appointing a defense attorney.

EMERGENCY is awaiting clarification from the Italian embassy in Kabul which is following the developing situation regarding the condition of the EMERGENCY personnel in custody.

EMERGENCY PRESS CONFERENCE

April 11, 2010

The Executive Director of EMERGENCY, Dr. Gino Strada:

Good morning everyone.

I am shocked at what happened yesterday. If I had to define it in a few words I would say a war has been waged against a hospital. In a way, it doesn't surprise me because the logic of war is very different from our logic. The logic of war is to kill, to put an end to human lives. From that perspective, I understand that a hospital is an anomaly because we try to save lives, not kill them.

Why this war against EMERGENCY's hospital? We could call it a preventive war, because an inconvenient witness needs to be eliminated before launching a new bombing campaign in the region.

EMERGENCY's hospital is an inconvenient witness for two reasons. First of all because it has treated all war victims for years. Since the opening of that hospital we have treated 60,000 patients, and admitted more than 10,000 people suffering from war wounds. It is a hospital where the wounded are treated because they are human beings in need of medical help. All this is in line with international conventions and treaties, which for years, long years in the Afghan conflict, had been respected -- until recently.

I remember many years ago in Afghanistan while still under the regime of Najibullah, during the Soviet intervention, doctors and nurses ─ at the time I was in Kabul working for the International Red Cross ─ doctors and nurses could treat mujahedeen, who today would be called rebels, insurgents as they are called, or terrorists. They would be brought from the battlefronts, treated in Kabul, and then returned to where they came from, after treatment. Today this is no longer possible.  EMERGENCY has been a witness to this. It has been a witness, and it has denounced the fact that many wounded people in the bombardments have been denied the right to be treated in a hospital. The evacuation of the wounded has not been allowed. No humanitarian corridor has been opened. What is worrisome is that these actions, clearly in violation of international law, are carried out daily by the so-called international coalition, of which our country also takes part.

What is even more troublesome is that the Afghan forces are allowed to kidnap, because we are not talking about an arrest here. An arrest takes place when there is a reason, with a mandate, and the person under arrest has the right to see and talk to a lawyer, to have his say. What we have here is simply a kidnapping of people, in exactly the worst of terrorist tradition. These actions are being carried out by that government, the Karzai government, which the coalition forces, including Italy, is there to defend. So, paradoxically, what we have here are Italian forces protecting and defending the government which arrests Italian doctors ─ a government that declares war on a hospital that for years has been treating its population living in that region. Perhaps the explanation is that EMERGENCY is an inconvenient witness, and so it is best to get rid of it.

I would like for our country to react to this situation. We are talking about Italian doctors and medical personnel working on a peace mission in Lashkar-gah ─ a true peace mission. And I hope that the Italian authorities will work on this with all its power, and I feel that a show of strong support by the Italian people is also necessary, exactly because we are talking about a grotesque and unjustified aggression that has no rational explanation.

The accusations, which have been formulated, even though still very vague, are very grotesque. The governor, who in the late afternoon during a press conference stated that three doctors wanted to organize a plot to make an attempt on his life, was the same governor whom we contacted that morning, and who declared to us that he was traveling and knew nothing of what was happening. So, there are directives behind this operation. It is clear that there is involvement of international forces, so it is not purely an Afghan operation. I think that only people in bad faith can believe even for a second that doctors and nurses who decide to spend years of their lives to help the Afghan people and work there, could harbor a secret intent to blow up the next nitwit on shift, that would be this governor, who doesn’t count for anything. It is clearly a big set up.

Some guns and some grenades were found in the hospital…you’re shaking your head, was there something else? Because it sounds like there were bazookas, and even an invisible airplane…it’s obvious that when there’s a set up something has to be found. Of course, it’s not unthinkable that someone put four weapons in the hospital that could be found at just the right time, especially since they were conveniently discovered in the absence of our personnel. In the end, we could have similarly been told that a hundred kilos of heroin had been discovered, or ten kilos of potatoes.  There is no way of our verifying any of this. These accusations are clearly grotesque. They are provocative and offensive.

Our priority now, obviously, is to secure the safety of our personnel who are no longer in the hospital; who were taken away, kidnapped by the Afghan security. And also, for the safety of the personnel in our staff house who are currently under no protection. This of course, is our priority. As far as our hospital is concerned, our hospital is now occupied by the military. We don’t know if it is Afghan, or other military as well. Thus, it’s a hospital that can no longer be recognized as a hospital. A hospital cannot be controlled by the military.

This is the current situation. I would like to appeal to the many Italians who are familiar with and support EMERGENCY’s work, to make their voices heard. It’s unthinkable that Italian medical personnel can be subject to this type of aggression.

We hope this crisis can be resolved quickly.

April 11, 2010

News Regarding the EMERGENCY Surgical Center in Lashkar-gah, Afghanistan

EMERGENCY USA has been notified by the Milan-based NGO EMERGENCY that yesterday nine employees of their hospital in Lashkar-gah, Afghanistan, including three Italian nationals--the head surgeon, a nurse and a logistician--were taken into custody by Afghan security forces.  EMERGENCY reports that they have received no official contact thus far from Afghan authorities to explain the reason for these detentions.
 
EMERGENCY USA continues in its support of EMERGENCY's lifesaving medical programs around the world and hopes for a quick and positive resolution of this serious incident.

EMERGENCY has been present in Afghanistan since 1999 with three surgical centers, a maternity center, and 28 first aid posts.  The surgical center for victims of war in Lashkar-gah,  Afghanistan has been operating since 2004. Over 2.5 million Afghans have been treated completely free of charge in EMERGENCY medical facilities in Afghanistan, over 66,000 in Lashkar-gah alone.
 
EMERGENCY USA Life-Support for Civilian Victims of War and Poverty is a 501(c)3 U.S. nonprofit organization founded in 2008.  Our mission is to raise awareness through education,  promote a culture of peace and respect for human dignity, and to raise funds and community support for medical care, rehabilitation and relief efforts for victims of wars, landmines, poverty and natural disasters.  The programs we support provide high-standard medical assistance, free of charge, to civilian victims of war and poverty around the world.

2/15/2010 PRESS RELEASE

Wounded Afghan Civilians Seek Medical Care:  Humanitarian Passage Urgently Needed

The surgical center run by the Italian NGO EMERGENCY in Lashkar-gah, southern Afghanistan, has been preparing for arrival of patients injured by bombings carried out by the U.S. led offensive on the village of Marjah, located about 50 km southwest of the capital of Helmand province.  The crisis is mounting; without a humanitarian corridor for injured Afghan civilians to travel for access to treatment, many are suffering and some have died as they were blocked from reaching medical assistance.
 
Helmand Province, Afghanistan, February 15, 2010 --The EMERGENCY Surgical Center staff has been notified by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) that the transfer to hospitals of dozens of seriously injured civilian victims is being prevented as military blockades impede vehicles transporting the injured. As of yesterday morning, six victims died when evacuation was hindered.
 
Among the few who were able to reach the EMERGENCY Surgical Center was a 7-year-old boy who arrived with a bullet wound to the chest.  He immediately underwent surgery.
 
Geneva Conventions are considered to be the cornerstone of contemporary International Humanitarian Law. They were established to protect combatants who find themselves hors de combat and they also protect civilians caught in war zones. These treaties are in effect for all recent international armed conflicts, including the current War in Afghanistan (2001 to the present).
 
The Afghan population is entitled to protection under the Convention.  They should not be subject to any further great suffering or serious injury to body or health.
 
EMERGENCY USA makes an urgent appeal to the conscience of the international community and leaders to open a humanitarian route in the region in order to permit immediate assistance to the wounded.
 
EMERGENCY USA-Life Support for Civilian Victims of War and Poverty is a U.S. nonprofit organization founded in 2008.  Our mission is to raise awareness through education about a culture of peace and respect for human dignity, and to raise funds and community support for medical care, rehabilitation and relief efforts for victims of wars, landmines, poverty and natural disasters.  The programs we support provide high-standard medical assistance, free of charge, to civilian victims of war and poverty around the world.

For additional information and interviews, contact:

Graziella B. Costanzo, President
EMERGENCY USA-Life Support for Civilian Victims of War and Poverty
info@emergencyusa.org
1-888-501-3872
www.emergencyusa.org

May 12, 2009