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Kathmandu Wednesday January 23, 2002 Magh 10, 2058.
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Govt indifferent to misuse of
Red Cross emblem
By Kiran Chapagain
KATHMANDU, Jan 22: Beginning from a signboard at
a hospital in Putalisadak to the wall of Model Pharmacy in the nearby Bagbazar and in
hundreds of doctors’ cars, one can see Red Cross emblems all over the city.
This is a general scene of country’s
medical sector misusing the universal symbol of the Red Cross, defying the Geneva
Convention and taking advantage of the government’s negligence in formulating a
national law to protect the symbol, the Red Cross on white background.
The 1864 Geneva Convention strictly prohibits
the commercial and personal use of the symbol. Commercial pharmacies, hospitals, clinics
and policlinics are also not allowed to use the emblem.
Though the Geneva Convention entitles National
Red Cross, Red Crescent Societies, free-of-cost ambulances and first-aid stations operated
by the parties to use the universal symbol of the Red Cross, the emblem has been widely
used by hospitals and those involved in the medical sector.
The government is responsible for the misuse of
the emblem, as it has not yet formulated any laws to prevent this misuse. The first-ever
Geneva Convention compels the signatory countries to formulate laws guaranteeing the right
use of the emblem.
But Nepal has not followed this despite signing
the Convention in 1964. Even after more than two decades of signing the Convention, the
Health Ministry, which is responsible for the law protecting the emblem, is not giving
enough attention to the repeated pleas of the Red Cross Society.
"It is the responsibility of the government
to prevent the misuse of the emblem as the government is a signatory party of the
Convention," says T.R. Onta, Executive Director of Nepal Red Cross Society.
"Government should have formulated a law for the protection of the emblem, but it has
not done anything yet."
However, the spokesperson at the Ministry of
Health Dr. Benu Bahadur Karki says that the government is not bound to formulate any laws
for the protection of the emblem.He says, "the government is free from any obligation
to formulate the law."
"The Convention in itself is a law, so
there is no need to formulate any laws to protect the symbol from being misused,"
Karki says.
However, lawyers say that the Convention cannot
penalise an individual or an institution for not abiding by it (take for example the
misuse of the emblem). "The Convention puts moral pressure on the signatory for not
abiding by the Convention it signed but does not penalise a person for defying the
Convention," says Tulsi Bhatta, advocate at the Unity Law Firm and Consultancy.
Advocates also say that the signatory country of
the Convention can formulate laws for implementing the Convention, though the Convention
in itself is a law. "Government should formulate a moral law to punish the
individuals or institutions who violate the Convention," says advocate Bhatta.
The Ministry has not authorised any one to use
the symbol. But Red Cross officials say that there is a high probability of using the
emblem by the conflicting groups in Nepal during the ongoing emergency. "So the
government should now take the initiatives to formulate the law," says Onta.
The Red Cross emblem is used only for protective
purpose. The National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies use the symbol for indicative
purpose and medical services of armed forces, authorised civilian hospitals and voluntary
relief societies use the symbol for protective purpose, according to the Red Cross
Society.
But from the government hospital to the private
nursing hospital and from the medical institution to the general pharmacy all are using
this sign.
Doctors say they have their cars and vehicles
painted with the red cross because it makes their vehicles "safe". Further more,
it "introduces them in the society as doctors." "The symbol makes our
vehicles safe," a doctor working at the Bir Hospital said requesting anonymity.
But those running the pharmacies say that they
have been using the red cross without any knowledge. "I have painted this symbol just
to signify that this is a medical shop," a owner of Model Pharmacy at Bagbazaar says.
"I do not know that I have been misusing the Red Cross symbol."
Similarly, hospitals and clinic owners say they
are using the symbol thinking that they are associated with "humanitarian
services."
"I have been using the symbol on the
signboard of my clinic because the painter painted the mark on it," says Dr. R.B.
Sahu of Zandu Ayurved Clinic.
"We have nothing to gain from the
symbol," says Birendra Karmacharya, manager of Capital Hospital. The hospital has not
only red cross painted at the front but also has a logo, which appears to be the Red Cross
logo.
The Health Ministry spokesperson says that the
Ministry is doing its best to prevent the misuse. "We have appealed to the concerned
people repeatedly but our efforts have not been that much effective."
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