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New U.S. Rules Allow Gitmo Force-Feeding
BEN FOX
Associated Press
June 6, 2006
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) - The U.S. military issued medical guidelines Tuesday for the treatment of prisoners, formally directing doctors at Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere to force-feed hunger strikers whose lives are in danger and granting doctors a limited role in interrogations.
The guidelines, which the military said formalize existing rules and policies, drew criticism from a human rights group that said the military should not interfere with detainees who use hunger strikes as a protest and should bar experts in psychology from having any role during interrogations.
"It's wrong because a doctor's role is to provide care, to support a person's health and, as we all know, to do no harm," said Leonard Rubenstein, executive director of Physicians for Human Rights.
Dr. William Winkenwerder, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, said the military crafted "humane" standards aimed at preserving the lives of detainees while protecting military and civilian personnel at detention centers like that at GuantanamoBay in Cuba.
"It's a thoughtful, comprehensive document that's based on high medical standards and ethical treatment of people," Winkenwerder insisted to reporters in a conference call.
In July, military investigators probing the conduct of a former GuantanamoBay commander found that a detainee had been subjected to abusive and degrading treatment that included forcing him to wear a bra, dance with another man and behave like a dog. Former detainees have said they were kept in isolation and forced to listen to loud music.
Under the guidelines, psychiatrists and psychologists trained as "behavioral science consultants" may observe interrogations and advise interrogators but are barred from direct participation. The consultants also are prohibited from using any health information about a detainee in a way that would "result in inhumane treatment."
Winkenwerder said these rules have been in place throughout the U.S. war on terror but there may have been violations.
"I think it is fair to say, however, that in the early weeks and months ... people may not have acted in full accord with these standards and procedures," he said, declining to provide any details about the violations.
Gitanjali Gutierrez, Center for Constitutional Rights, dismissed the guidelines, saying the military has not followed rules in the past and noted there is no oversight of detainees held by the CIA in secret locations. "These new assurances ring hollow," she said.
The compilation of the rules comes as some detainees are participating in a hunger strike to protest their confinement at Guantanamo, where the U.S. holds some 460 men accused of links to al-Qaida or the Taliban.
Rubenstein said the safeguards do not go far enough to prevent medical personnel from sharing sensitive information with interrogators. He also challenged the military policy of force-feeding those detainees whose lives are determined to be in danger, noting that international ethics guidelines call for allowing people to go on hunger strike, provided they are competent and acting under their own will.
A hunger strike at GuantanamoBay began in August with 76 detainees participating and dwindled to just three as the military began using a special restraint chair while force-feeding the men with a nasal tube.
At the end of May, the number suddenly spiked and grew to 89 earlier this month. On Tuesday, there were 17 on hunger strike, including four being force-fed, said Navy Cmdr. Robert Durand.
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