A recently-released Pentagon report reveals that Guantanamo Bay inmates have been interrogated while receiving medication for “poor mental condition”.
The 41-page report, obtained by truthout.org under Freedom of Information Act, was prepared by the inspector general of the US Department of Defense, following a two-year probe into the use of anti-psychotic medication during interrogations.
The report admitted that the prisoners inside the US notorious detention center in Cuba forcibly received powerful sedatives used in hospitals to treat poor mental health.
“Some detainees received ongoing medication with psychoactive drugs (for treatment of diagnosed medical conditions) which could impair an individual's ability to provide accurate information,” the report said.
Pentagon’s inspector general claimed that “nowhere in the medical records did we find any evidence of mind-altering drugs being administered for the purpose of interrogation.”
The report, however, admits that “Certain detainees, diagnosed as having serious mental health conditions being treated with psychoactive medications on a continuing basis, were interrogated.”
The report also said that many of the inmates were given an anti-psychotic sedative called Haldol, which is used in psychiatric hospitals and emergency rooms.
Haldol, which was first marketed in the 1960s, has many side effects including depression, muscle contractions and suicidal behavior. The product can cause long-term movement disorders, life-threatening neurological disorders and heart attacks.
In one case, an unnamed prisoner told the inspector general that he was given red and blue pills while being transferred from Afghanistan to Guantanamo in 2002. At the time he was told that it was some “candy,” but he said he felt like in a “state of delusion” for several days after taking the “candy.”
“The inspector general's report confirms that detainees whose mental deterioration and suffering was so great as to lead to psychosis and attempts at self-harm were given anti-psychotic medication and subjected to further interrogation,” said Leonard Rubenstein, a medical ethicist at Johns Hopkins Center for Public Health and Human Rights.
The recent report has raised concerns about whether statements and evidence obtained from the drugged prisoners could be used to justify their charges.
However, Shayana Kadidal, from the Center for Constitutional Rights, said that under the system set up by the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, prisoners’ statements obtained through these methods would be presumed “accurate even if detainees took medication that could produce unreliable information.”
“The burden ends up falling upon the detainee to prove what was said wasn't accurate if they were challenging their detention in habeas corpus proceedings,” Kadidal added. (Press TV)
The 41-page report, obtained by truthout.org under Freedom of Information Act, was prepared by the inspector general of the US Department of Defense, following a two-year probe into the use of anti-psychotic medication during interrogations.
The report admitted that the prisoners inside the US notorious detention center in Cuba forcibly received powerful sedatives used in hospitals to treat poor mental health.
“Some detainees received ongoing medication with psychoactive drugs (for treatment of diagnosed medical conditions) which could impair an individual's ability to provide accurate information,” the report said.
Pentagon’s inspector general claimed that “nowhere in the medical records did we find any evidence of mind-altering drugs being administered for the purpose of interrogation.”
The report, however, admits that “Certain detainees, diagnosed as having serious mental health conditions being treated with psychoactive medications on a continuing basis, were interrogated.”
The report also said that many of the inmates were given an anti-psychotic sedative called Haldol, which is used in psychiatric hospitals and emergency rooms.
Haldol, which was first marketed in the 1960s, has many side effects including depression, muscle contractions and suicidal behavior. The product can cause long-term movement disorders, life-threatening neurological disorders and heart attacks.
In one case, an unnamed prisoner told the inspector general that he was given red and blue pills while being transferred from Afghanistan to Guantanamo in 2002. At the time he was told that it was some “candy,” but he said he felt like in a “state of delusion” for several days after taking the “candy.”
“The inspector general's report confirms that detainees whose mental deterioration and suffering was so great as to lead to psychosis and attempts at self-harm were given anti-psychotic medication and subjected to further interrogation,” said Leonard Rubenstein, a medical ethicist at Johns Hopkins Center for Public Health and Human Rights.
The recent report has raised concerns about whether statements and evidence obtained from the drugged prisoners could be used to justify their charges.
However, Shayana Kadidal, from the Center for Constitutional Rights, said that under the system set up by the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, prisoners’ statements obtained through these methods would be presumed “accurate even if detainees took medication that could produce unreliable information.”
“The burden ends up falling upon the detainee to prove what was said wasn't accurate if they were challenging their detention in habeas corpus proceedings,” Kadidal added. (Press TV)
Source : Afghan Voice Agency (AVA), International Service
