‘Shameful’ silence on Guantanamo medical care
Senior doctors have today slammed the government for failing to provide adequate medical care for prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, claiming this “collusion” with the US amounts to “war crimes”.
In a letter to The Times, 120 signatories condemned the Foreign Office for ignoring a request from the British Medical Association (BMA) to send out a team of doctors to the prison in Cuba to examine the condition of the eight British residents being held there.
Calling for an independent investigation into the medical needs of the prisoners, the doctors also condemned the Foreign Office for its “shameful” silence on the matter.
Experts including Pro Bono Medical Panel member Dr Charles Clarke and chair of the Muslim Doctors Association Dr Ihtesham Sabri urged the government to discuss Guantanamo Bay using the Foreign Office pro bono and legal committees.
The letter notes that these panels have not been used in relation to Guantanamo in the past four years – despite being “set up specifically to assist the government when there is serious concern for the medical or legal status of British prisoners overseas”.
It condemns the Foreign Office as “morally repugnant” for failing to implement these committees on the grounds that the detainees are British residents but do not hold a British passport.
“The Foreign Office can and does act differently when circumstances suit, for example seeking to overturn a death sentence on an Afghan Christian convert, Abdul Rahman. Yet it feels unable to take any action for UK residents held illegally in Guantanamo,” the doctors argue.
“Given that the US military has awarded medals for doctors involved in the care of Guantanamo detainees (for medical treatment that would warrant a criminal investigation if carried out in Britain), we have no confidence in the proposed investigation of the recent suicides.
“It is clear that an independent scrutiny is urgently required by physicians outside the US military. The silence of the Foreign Office is shameful and reflects the collusion of this country in a war crime.”
Responding to the letter, director of Amnesty International UK Kate Allen said: “It’s shameful that in four and half years the government has not insisted on independent medical examinations for long-term residents of the UK held in the black hole of Guantanamo.
“These men – some of whom are refugees that the UK has acknowledged to be vulnerable people – have essentially been left to rot in Guantanamo’s cells. They are Guantanamo’s forgotten prisoners.”
An FCO spokesman refused to comment on today’s letter, but yesterday confirmed to The Times that Britain did not provide consular services to non-British nationals. However, he added that the FCO thought the prison should be closed.
None of the British prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, where people suspected of terrorism are detained, has ever been examined by independent doctors. And the apparent suicide of three detainees in June heightened concerns over mental health provision.
Nine British citizens have been released from the camp since it opened in 2004, but there are believed to be at least eight British residents still there.
Lord Falconer said last week the US was guilty of a “shocking affront to the principles of democracy” in its use of Guantanamo Bay.
