> This is the only instance we are aware of where the medical profession in a country has collaborated closely, for decades, with the security apparatus to source and medically execute prisoners in order to traffic their organs.<p>I absolutely do not want to downplay this at all, this is a horrific crime against these individuals, their families, and human dignity anywhere.<p>I don't think the close involvement of the doctors necessarily makes this worse. The idea that medical workers are uniquely constrained from certain actions is a cultural norm, and at least partially a myth. Medical horrors are abundant in recent history, and I think we need a stronger mechanism to prevent them than social norms.<p>It <i>is</i> interesting to note though that in the US, the medical profession's (inconsistent) refusal to participate in executions has been one of the practical limits on capital punishment. There are a handful of states that would execute people, but no doctors will perform the necessary time-of-death procedures and so they don't happen.<p>But this isn't a cultural difference I don't think. There are plenty of states where doctors don't make that choice and executions proceed as desired by the state. There's also for example Israel where it's been an open secret since the 90s that organs are harvested from assassinated Palestinians.<p>Doctors potentially have a lot of power. I am grimly curious about the circumstances that lead them to either choice, since clearly there is not consensus across the profession even within a single country or culture.