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Report says Doctors Helped Refine Harsh Methods
WASHINGTON — A prominent physicians group is charging that medical
personnel were used to test and refine the effectiveness of
waterboarding and other harsh interrogation techniques for terror
detainees in U.S. custody under the guise of safeguarding their health.
Physicians for Human Rights outlined the allegations stemming from a Bush-era interrogation program and called on the White House to investigate. Its report was based on a re-examination and new interpretation of records that had been previously released.
U.S. government officials denounced the report, saying the government did not conduct human research on detainees. The officials said that such charges and documents have already been made public and were examined by multiple government investigations.
The author of the report, Nathaniel Raymond, said the declassified documents had never been examined with an eye on laws including the Nuremberg Code, established to ban Nazi Germany medical experimentation.
"We're not writing the indictment here," Raymond said before the report's release at midnight Sunday. "We're saying there needs to be a search warrant. If the White House does not act on this, it's turning its back on something that could be perceived as a war crime."
According to the report, "Medical personnel were required to monitor all waterboarding practices and collect detailed medical information that was used to design, develop and deploy subsequent waterboarding procedures."
For example, the report said, doctors recommended adding salt to the water used for waterboarding, so the patient wouldn't experience hyponatremia, "a condition of low sodium levels in the blood caused by free water intoxication."
The report interpreted that doctor-recommended practice of using saline solution as "Waterboarding 2.0."
It also said information was gathered on the pain inflicted when various techniques were used in combination. Raymond said the purpose was to see if the pain caused violated Bush administration definitions of torture, rather than as a safeguard of the detainees' health.
Medical personnel, the report said, also monitored sleep deprivation, with sleepless stints from 48 hours to 180 hours — again to make sure it did not cause prolonged physical and mental suffering, as per those Bush administration definitions, rather than to watch out for harm to the detainee.
CIA spokesman Paul Gimigliano flatly rejected the claims. "The CIA did not, as part of its past detention program, conduct human subject research on any detainee or group of detainees," Gimigliano said.
The report also raised questions about the Obama administration's new high-value detainee investigation group, known as the HIG. Part of its role is to research new methods of interrogation. The physicians group demanded clarification, asking whether this meant learning by doing.
Wendy Morigi, spokeswoman for the national intelligence director, said this part of the HIG would look at "scientific research that would allow for a refinement of current best practices" and was "in no way was suggesting research on the detainees themselves."
Physicians for Human Rights, a Cambridge, Mass.-based nonprofit organization, says its mission is, in part, to investigate human rights abuses.
25 Comments so far
Show AllParse as they might, Officials, Doctors and other medical personnel involved in this Torture program, this is an example of what Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. described of the USA:
"WE are a Nation of Technological and scientific giants and Moral and Intellectual Midgets".
the classic use of "knowledge" to practice EVIL.
Doctors swear to at least do no harm. If an investigation proves that doctors were involved in torture they should lose their licences.
Doctors swear to at least do no harm. If an investigation proves that doctors were involved in torture they should lose their licences.
Most US citizens are unaware of Jill's claim in the first paragraph...but she's right.
For a very disturbing tour of our leadership's sordid history check out:
unit 731...particularly the way the US dealt with its perpetrators and the information they had amassed after WW2
MKULTRA
and please seek out and read A Terrible Mistake by H Albarelli published this year.
People don't know this stuff because the corporate media studiously avoid it. The internet gives us a window exposing them...for now...
Nathaniel Raymond: "We're saying there needs to be a search warrant. If the White House does not act on this, it's turning its back on something that could be perceived as a war crime."
Hmmm....I don't think Barry or Attorney General Eric Holder want to have too much focus on the war crimes issue, since that spotlight might prove to be too warm for their comfort.
Search warrants? Since the obliteration of the quaint Fourth Amendment, the government doesn't need those anymore. Oh, I forgot. Search warrants are still needed unless Barry says that you're a "terrorist."
Our government uses torture as much to intimidate the American public as it does to intimidate the "terrorists."
The message is that the government can do whatever it pleases with people, because the government terrorists are above the law.
Where is Obama on this policy?
SAME AS BUSH'S
Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Obama, and all of the Demcorats on the House and Senate Intelligence Committees who were briefed about "harsh interrogation techniques, are the chief conspirators with the Bush Administration's war crimes.
Pelosi drove the getaway car, drove some distance, and then Obama filled up the tank, and hopped in with her. No looking back he said.
Obama is triangulating as usual. He still holds out the good guy carrot of maybe someday closing Guantanamo, as he ramps up the torture machine at Bagram, and readies his DOJ to destroy Miranda rights protection for US citizens 'accused' of some 'association' with 'terrorist activity'.
It appears is if the lasting legacy of the Bush error will be how in the relatively short space of eight years, Dubya, Cheney, & Co. managed to effectively gut the conscience of whole institutions to such an extent that recovery of any sort of legitimacy will take many more years then their reign, if ever.
"Harsh Methods"?? Someone needs to get their headline out of their ass.
This "Harsh Interrogation Method" euphemism remains the standard in all capitalist organs of dissemnation. I'm surprised that they haven't resorted to the acronym HIMs in order to further obfuscate the meaning.
"again to make sure it did not cause prolonged physical and mental suffering, as per those Bush administration definitions"
I understand that the report is trying to highlight the "research" aspect of the criminal involvement of doctors, but in doing so, ironically, it validates the claim of the Bush Administration, that the 'harsh interrogation techniques' were carefully carried out to not breach THEIR legal definition of torture.
I don't understand, why the authors of this report, don't go after that claim, that ostensibly "it" in any measure was legal.
When I questioned the post of Prometheus regarding the State of the US Justice system (This in response to an article on an American Under arrest in Rwanda ) , he responded to my point the US system no better because it waterboards people, that it was no longer happening.
As far as I am concerned as long as the United States Government does not ARREST and INDICT those that gave orders to waterboard and torture prisoners, the Government officialy still SUPPORTS the practice.
GW Bush , ex President of the USA is openly stating that he gave the orders to toture prisoners and would do so again, yet still walks the streets as a free man.
"After the government interview, persons whose appearance has changed must file for a new picture ID."
--Baljak
Sure, the military doctors did immoral things and abandoned the oath of their profession - but they were only following orders, no?
Why do we keep beating around the Bush? And, Cheney? And, Rummy? et al??
They all committed treason, torture, war crimes, and crimes against humanity in general. Dubya admitted as much just last week. There's plenty of evidence. They should all be dragged to the Hague and prosecuted - sooner rather than later.