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Doctors seek probe of alleged torture experiments
Doctors seek probe of alleged torture experiments
By KIMBERLY DOZIER, Associated Press Writer Kimberly Dozier, Associated Press Writer 15 mins ago
WASHINGTON – Several civil liberties groups are demanding the White House investigate whether doctors conducted medical experiments on terror detainees during harsh interrogations led by the CIA under the Bush administration.
Physicians for Human Rights filed a legal complaint Wednesday with the Health and Human Services Department. The group was joined by other nongovernment organizations, including Amnesty International USA.
Using long-declassified documents, the physicians' group released a report Sunday claiming doctors monitored terror suspects during waterboarding, an interrogation technique that simulates drowning, and forced sleep deprivation, in what they contended amounted to illegal experimentation.
The author of the report, Nathaniel Raymond, said the declassified documents had never been examined with an eye on laws, including the Nuremberg Code, which was used to ban Nazi Germany's medical experimentation.
According to the physicians' 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."
The group also said information was gathered on the pain inflicted when various interrogation techniques were used in combination. Raymond claims the purpose was to see if the pain caused violated Bush administration definitions of torture, rather than to safeguard detainees' health.
The report said that medical personnel 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 under the definitions used by the Bush administration.
The CIA said there was no medical experimentation and pointed out that the interrogation program had been investigated already several times.
By KIMBERLY DOZIER, Associated Press Writer Kimberly Dozier, Associated Press Writer 15 mins ago
WASHINGTON – Several civil liberties groups are demanding the White House investigate whether doctors conducted medical experiments on terror detainees during harsh interrogations led by the CIA under the Bush administration.
Physicians for Human Rights filed a legal complaint Wednesday with the Health and Human Services Department. The group was joined by other nongovernment organizations, including Amnesty International USA.
Using long-declassified documents, the physicians' group released a report Sunday claiming doctors monitored terror suspects during waterboarding, an interrogation technique that simulates drowning, and forced sleep deprivation, in what they contended amounted to illegal experimentation.
The author of the report, Nathaniel Raymond, said the declassified documents had never been examined with an eye on laws, including the Nuremberg Code, which was used to ban Nazi Germany's medical experimentation.
According to the physicians' 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."
The group also said information was gathered on the pain inflicted when various interrogation techniques were used in combination. Raymond claims the purpose was to see if the pain caused violated Bush administration definitions of torture, rather than to safeguard detainees' health.
The report said that medical personnel 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 under the definitions used by the Bush administration.
The CIA said there was no medical experimentation and pointed out that the interrogation program had been investigated already several times.
The United States military does not actually kill prisoners during interrogation.
The terrorists did not have to know that with certainty. They did not have to have that fact assured by a presidential finding.
The idea was to scare them. To make them believe they might die.
Some day the chickens will come home to roost.
The terrorists did not have to know that with certainty. They did not have to have that fact assured by a presidential finding.
The idea was to scare them. To make them believe they might die.
Some day the chickens will come home to roost.
I guess that is a pretty good point Caregiver. If they know they will ultimately be fine, it kind of defeats the purpose I guess. Makes sense. I absolutely know logically that sometimes it is necessary to do certain things most of us find distasteful. I guess it's just the humanitarian in me (Yep, I tend to be a bit of a bleeding heart) that struggles with it. I know they are killers, and I don't have sympathy for what happens to them anymore then I do a ********* or child killer. It's just the thought of the whole process. I don't even know if that makes sense, but I know what I mean..lol.
Actually these techniques have been proven to work. It is absolute nonsense that the "information recieved makes it innacurate".
The worst thing that has happened is to let these people KNOW that they won't be harmed. The whole idea of these waterboardings was to make them believe they were going to be killed without harming them.
Years ago, during military training I have been "waterboarded" and it isn't the end of the world.
The agenda of those from the ACLU is to destroy the American military.
The worst thing that has happened is to let these people KNOW that they won't be harmed. The whole idea of these waterboardings was to make them believe they were going to be killed without harming them.
Years ago, during military training I have been "waterboarded" and it isn't the end of the world.
The agenda of those from the ACLU is to destroy the American military.
Yes, I have read that. I read that much of the information they get using these methods proves to be innacurate for exactly those reasons. They will say anything to just make it stop.
The problem is generally these techniques have been proven not to work (regardless of one's opinion of them). When a person is under extreme physical stress they are likely to confess to anything even if its not true. Also it makes any country we are fighting (not just the Taliban) avoid agreeing to the Geneva Convention when U.S. soldiers are captured. Those can be two complications as well.
I do believe information needs to be gotten from these terrorist groups. Given what they are capable of doing, and what many have done, I do not have any sympathy for them. Still, the idea bothers me a bit. I guess I have mixed feelings on the issue. I guess my primary comment would be that I hope they are making absolute certain they have the correct people in custody. I hope they are not using these techniques just to find out if the detainees are in fact actual terrorists, know what I mean? It's hard for me to accept that this type of thing is necessary...that's the emotional part. Logically, I know these terrorists would not hesitate to do the same and worse (they do and have.) It's just hard to read.
Ya know, maybe it is simply because I am old school but where I come from you do what ya gotta do to get answers. When someone plots to do harm to us, it is called war! Anybody ever hear that war is ugly! war hurts people! people die! During WW2, they hung people and cut off their genitals, During the Vietnam war, our enemy sent small children ahead of their soldiers to walk thru the minefields. And we are big and so bad because we do what it takes to get answers! To protect our land! And some goody two shoe gonna come along and tell us how evil we are for doing it, how inhumane we are! I don't think so and I think it is ridiculous all way around. And yes, I am a christian. And yes, I still believe that way and stand by it. I dont call it torture, I call it war.
Personally I don't consider water boarding a terrorist who is actively participating in the slaughter of women, children and other noncombatants to be torture. We need the information to save innocent lives. And it worked. We got a lot of good information and were able to stop some plots in their tracks. If my son were doing what these terrorists are doing, I wouldn't mind if her were water boarded to get information from him. Saving innocents is what matters.
Sleep deprivation is allowed under the Geneva Convention.
If there were doctors there, wouldn't it make sense to monitor to make sure that nothing lethal was done?? I don't think that's why Dr Mengele was doing at Auschwitz is quite the same. We have doctors on hand at legal executions.
Why did this not come out during the other investigations? Something smells with this one.
Sleep deprivation is allowed under the Geneva Convention.
If there were doctors there, wouldn't it make sense to monitor to make sure that nothing lethal was done?? I don't think that's why Dr Mengele was doing at Auschwitz is quite the same. We have doctors on hand at legal executions.
Why did this not come out during the other investigations? Something smells with this one.
well of course here we go again its much of the same ohhhhh whats up .not enough of Bush bashing ,,,,lol
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