Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Philadelphia Inquirer
June 18, 2008 By Pamela Hess, Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Medical exams of former terrorism suspects held by the U.S. military at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and the detention center at Guantanamo Bay found evidence of torture and other abuse that resulted in serious injuries and mental disorders, according to a human-rights group.
For the most extensive medical study of former U.S. detainees published so far, Physicians for Human Rights had doctors and mental-health professionals examine 11 former prisoners. The group said it found evidence of U.S. torture and war crimes, and it accused U.S. military health professionals of allowing the abuse of detainees, denying them medical care and providing confidential medical information to interrogators that then was exploited.
One Iraqi, identified only as Yasser, reported being subjected to electric shocks three times and being sodomized with a stick. His thumbs bore round scars consistent with shocking, according to the report obtained by the Associated Press. He would not allow a full rectal exam.
Another Iraqi, identified as Rahman, said he was humiliated by being forced to wear women's underwear, stripped naked, and paraded in front of female guards. A psychological examination found that he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and had sexual problems related to his humiliation, the report said.
President Bush said in 2004, when the prison abuse was revealed, that it was the work of "a few American troops who dishonored our country and disregarded our values." Bush and other U.S. officials have consistently denied that the United States tortures its detainees.
Physicians for Human Rights did not identify the 11 former prisoners, to protect their privacy. Seven were held at Abu Ghraib between late 2003 and summer of 2004, a period that coincides with the known abuse of prisoners at the hands of some of their U.S. jailers. Four were held at Guantanamo beginning in 2002 for one to almost five years. All 11 were released without criminal charges.
Those examined alleged that they were tortured or abused and described being shocked with electrodes, beaten, shackled, deprived of food and sleep, and spit and urinated on.
The abuse of some prisoners by their U.S. captors has been well-documented by government reports. Once-secret documents show that the Pentagon and Justice Department allowed, at least for a time, forced nakedness, isolation, sleep deprivation and humiliation at Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib.
Because examiners did not have access to the 11 patients' medical histories before imprisonment, it was not possible to know whether any of the prisoners' ailments, disabilities and scars predated their confinement.
The U.S. military says an al-Qaeda training manual tells members, if captured, to assert they were tortured during interrogation.
June 18, 2008 By Pamela Hess, Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Medical exams of former terrorism suspects held by the U.S. military at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and the detention center at Guantanamo Bay found evidence of torture and other abuse that resulted in serious injuries and mental disorders, according to a human-rights group.
For the most extensive medical study of former U.S. detainees published so far, Physicians for Human Rights had doctors and mental-health professionals examine 11 former prisoners. The group said it found evidence of U.S. torture and war crimes, and it accused U.S. military health professionals of allowing the abuse of detainees, denying them medical care and providing confidential medical information to interrogators that then was exploited.
One Iraqi, identified only as Yasser, reported being subjected to electric shocks three times and being sodomized with a stick. His thumbs bore round scars consistent with shocking, according to the report obtained by the Associated Press. He would not allow a full rectal exam.
Another Iraqi, identified as Rahman, said he was humiliated by being forced to wear women's underwear, stripped naked, and paraded in front of female guards. A psychological examination found that he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and had sexual problems related to his humiliation, the report said.
President Bush said in 2004, when the prison abuse was revealed, that it was the work of "a few American troops who dishonored our country and disregarded our values." Bush and other U.S. officials have consistently denied that the United States tortures its detainees.
Physicians for Human Rights did not identify the 11 former prisoners, to protect their privacy. Seven were held at Abu Ghraib between late 2003 and summer of 2004, a period that coincides with the known abuse of prisoners at the hands of some of their U.S. jailers. Four were held at Guantanamo beginning in 2002 for one to almost five years. All 11 were released without criminal charges.
Those examined alleged that they were tortured or abused and described being shocked with electrodes, beaten, shackled, deprived of food and sleep, and spit and urinated on.
The abuse of some prisoners by their U.S. captors has been well-documented by government reports. Once-secret documents show that the Pentagon and Justice Department allowed, at least for a time, forced nakedness, isolation, sleep deprivation and humiliation at Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib.
Because examiners did not have access to the 11 patients' medical histories before imprisonment, it was not possible to know whether any of the prisoners' ailments, disabilities and scars predated their confinement.
The U.S. military says an al-Qaeda training manual tells members, if captured, to assert they were tortured during interrogation.