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.
The Physicians for Human Rights 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.
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.”
It also said information was gathered on the pain inflicted when various techniques were used in combination. Report author Nathaniel 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.
Yemen: Photos show U.S. role in airstrike, rights group says
Amnesty International said today that it has photos that point to U.S. involvement in airstrikes on suspected al-Qaida hideouts in Yemen late last year, and criticized Washington for allegedly using cluster munitions and not taking precautions to avoid civilian casualties. There are differing accounts of the Dec. 17 attack in the al-Majalah area. Yemeni security officials originally said 34 al-Qaida militants were killed, although a Yemeni parliamentary committee later said in its report on the strike that 41 civilians were killed in the attack as well as militants. The U.S. has not officially confirmed a role in the airstrikes, although U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, have acknowledged American involvement in the bombing.
Jamaica: Curfew for slums
Jamaican authorities said they imposed a temporary curfew Sunday in troubled slums of the capital, Kingston, as security forces continue to hunt for a reputed drug lord wanted in the U.S. on drug and arms trafficking charges. Security forces say the 24-hour curfew will be in place until this morning in a swath of the gang-heavy West Kingston stronghold of fugitive Christopher “Dudus” Coke to allow greater safety for patrols.
Iraq: Bombings kill six
A car bomb exploded outside a Baghdad police station Sunday in the deadliest of a pair of attacks that killed six people in Baghdad, officials said. Four police officers were among those killed. One person died in the other bombing, and while several people were wounded in two other attacks, no one was killed.
Afghanistan: President replaces top security officials
Afghan President Hamid Karzai removed two of the country’s top security officials — each with longtime ties to American forces — over an attack on a national conference last week exploring peace with the Taliban. No delegates were injured. Security officials have rarely faced punishment or resigned over previous major attacks in the capital.
Poland: Tortured, killed priest beatified
Thousands of Poles filled a square in Warsaw on Sunday for the beatification of Jerzy Popieluszko, a charismatic priest tortured and killed in 1984 by communist Poland’s secret police for supporting Lech Walesa’s Solidarity freedom movement. Beatification is a step toward possible sainthood, which, if sought in an official procedure, should be backed up by proven cases of miracles attributed to the candidate for sainthood.
Cyprus: Plight of Christians in Mideast ignored, pope says
During Pope Benedict XVI’s pilgrimage to Cyprus on Sunday, the Vatican said the international community is ignoring the plight of Christians in the Middle East, and that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the war in Iraq and political instability in Lebanon have forced thousands to flee the region. The working paper released said that the line between religion and politics is blurred in Muslim countries, “relegating Christians to the precarious position of being considered noncitizens, despite the fact that they were citizens of their countries long before the rise of Islam.”
From Herald news services
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