Denied the Right to Heal: Testimony from a Displaced Sudanese Medic
SKY YORK NEWS | SUDAN —
In a harrowing video testimony obtained by Sky York News, Dr. Osman Kanouda Hamad, a displaced medical assistant from Sudan’s ongoing civil war, has spoken out about the systematic obstruction of medical care and the devastating toll of chemical weapons on civilians.
Dr. Hamad described how authorities and armed forces now prohibit medics in displacement camps from treating patients, under threat of punishment.
“If you try to treat anyone,” he said, “you become the one accused — you become the offender.”
This chilling policy has left countless displaced Sudanese without even basic medical assistance, worsening an already catastrophic humanitarian crisis. Children, women, and the elderly are reportedly succumbing to untreated injuries, infections, and disease outbreaks — while health workers are forced to stand by, unable to intervene.
Equally alarming, Dr. Hamad warned of the long-term health consequences from chemical weapons allegedly deployed by the Sudanese army in populated areas. He spoke of patients showing severe respiratory distress, skin burns, and neurological symptoms, all consistent with chemical exposure, yet no official investigations or international medical missions have been allowed into the affected zones.
Humanitarian experts say denying medical treatment to civilians — especially after suspected chemical attacks — constitutes a grave breach of international humanitarian law, and could amount to a war crime under the Geneva Conventions.
As Sudan’s war drags on, testimonies like Dr. Hamad’s reveal not only the physical destruction but the collapse of the ethical foundations of medical care, where healing itself is now treated as a crime.
