Chapter 3 Conditions of Detention | 61 prisoners often do not expect to be released, they have been traumatized and had their lives disrupted, and very commonly have sleep problems, anxiety attacks, and any number of physical ailments that are attributable to an aging population. 135 Detainees who are now in their 50s, 60s and 70s are reportedly developing chronic illnesses that arise during that stage of life. In this regard, Dr. Xenakis testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee that “the aging population at Guantanamo is vulnerable to developing debilitating neuropsychiatric disorders secondary to trauma and stress and suffering with dementia, serious depression, and increasing emotional instability.” Accordingly, senior officials at the Department of Defense reportedly recognized that Guantanamo is “turning into a nursing home.” 136 127. Dr. Xenakis further states that, by participating in the interrogation teams, psychiatrists, psychologists and physicians, have fully disrupted the patient-doctor relationship. He indicates that this is further complicated by the fact that these patients have difficult problems that are not commonly seen in military medicine; that the front line clinicians rotate every 7 to 9 months: and that the clinic at Guantanamo does not have the facilities to evaluate people who have more serious illnesses (there is reportedly no MRI scanner, radiologist, or nuclear medicine doctor). 137 The U.S. Government claims, however, that the healthcare provided to the detainees is comparable to that received by service personnel at Guantanamo. 138 Among Dr. Xenakis’ patients at Guantanamo there was one who suffered with chronic schizophrenia for decades and was psychotic when apprehended and transferred to Guantanamo over ten years ago, and another who had gained hundreds of pounds during his detention (in 2013 he weighed over 450 pounds, 270 more than when captured) and suffered multiple medical conditions. 139 128. The physician further points out that the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder require professional treatment to abate, and “there is no evidence that the detainees have received effective treatment for their conditions.” Accordingly, “the severe psychological trauma stemming from their experience in U.S. custody has often not been diagnosed nor addressed by the medical staff.” From his experience with prisoners in Guantanamo which includes over a dozen interviews of detainees, review of at least 50 files and a cumulative stay of three months at the facility, Dr. 135 136 137 138 139 IACHR’s Expert Meeting on the situation of detainees held at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Washington DC, October 3, 2013. Senate Judiciary Committee: Closing Guantanamo: The National Security, Fiscal, and Human Rights Implications, Statement: Stephen N. Xenakis, M.D., Brigadier General (Retired), U.S. Army, July 24, 2013. Available at: http://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/7-24-13XenakisTestimony.pdf IACHR’s Expert Meeting on the situation of detainees held at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Washington DC, October 3, 2013. Submission of the Government of the United States to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights with respect to the Draft Report on the Closure of Guantanamo, OEA/Ser.L/V.II.Doc. 30 January 2015, March 30, 2015, p. 7. Senate Judiciary Committee: Closing Guantanamo: The National Security, Fiscal, and Human Rights Implications, Statement: Stephen N. Xenakis, M.D., Brigadier General (Retired), U.S. Army, July 24, 2013, p. 3. Inter-American Commission on Human Rights | IACHR