seen by specialists when their condition so requires. A prison should nonetheless provide
adequate facilities and medical staff to deal with emergencies if outside facilities are too
remote or inaccessible.574 Accurate medical records should also be kept.575 At the time of
writing, US authorities had not conceded that the Eighth Amendment applies to
Guantánamo detainees.
270. The Department of Defense Directive on the DoD Detainee Program stipulates that all
detainees should be treated humanely, which includes “appropriate medical care and
attention required by the detainee’s condition to the extent practicable”. The Directive also
stipulates that “[detainees] will not be subjected to medical or scientific experiments”.576
The Department of Defense Instruction on Medical Program Support for Detainee
Operations further requires that “in general, health care [be] provided with the consent of
the detainee” and that “accurate and complete medical records [be] created and
maintained”.577 Medical personnel are to be trained to detect and report signs of abuse or
neglect.578
c. Findings and Analysis
271. Early efforts were made at Guantánamo to arrange medical care.579 Medical facilities now
include a detainee hospital, medical treatment rooms at Camps 5, 6 and 7, and a
behavioural health unit. These provide medical, dental and mental health care to detainees.
If required, detainees can also be treated at the Naval Hospital on the main base, including
for major surgeries. Specialists can also be brought to Guantánamo.580 Detainees cannot be
brought to the United States for medical treatment even in case of medical emergency.581
The United States nevertheless argues that Guantánamo detainees receive “quality care on
the same level as that which US service members receive while on the base”.582
Richard Murphy v. Richard E. Walker, Case No. 94-1820, 4 April 1995, <http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-7thcircuit/1248951.html> (several month delay in getting prisoner with head injury to a doctor).
574
See, for instance, United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, Frederick Hoptowit et al. v. Dixy Lee Ray et al., Case No.
No. 80-3366, 16 February 1982, <http://openjurist.org/682/f2d/1237/hoptowit-v-ray-w-md>; “Know your rights - Medical, dental
and mental health care”, American Civil Liberties Union website, ibid., p. 6.
575
See, for instance, United States Court of Appeals, Eight Circuit, Tyrone Antonio Johnson-El, et al. v. Vincent C. Schoemehl, et
al., Case No. 88-1252, 17 July 1989, <http://openjurist.org/878/f2d/1043/johnson-el-v-c-schoemehl-f-lt>; United States District
Court for the Eastern District of California, Ralph Coleman, et al. v. Pete Wilson, et al., Case No. S-90-0520 LKK JFM, 13
September 1995, <http://www.leagle.com/decision/19952194912FSupp1282_12061.xml/COLEMAN%20v.%20WILSON>;
“Know your rights - Medical, dental and mental health care”, American Civil Liberties Union website, ibid., p. 7.
576
Department of Defense Directive 2310.01E, op. cit., note 14, paras. 3.b(1)(d) and 3.b(2).
577
Department of Defense Instruction 2310.08E, “Medical Program Support for Detainee Operations”, 6 June 2006, paras. 4.2,
4.7, <http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/OathBetrayed/Winkenwerder%206-6-2006.pdf >.
578
Ibid., para. 4.5; UN CAT, Third to fifth periodic reports of States parties due in 2011, United States of America, op. cit., note
162, paras. 101, 106.
579
Ethics Abandoned, op. cit., note 430, p. xix; Walsh Report, op. cit., note 422, p. 13.
580
Detailed descriptions of the medical facilities at Guantánamo are available in: Walsh Report, ibid., pp. 13-15; GAO November
2012 Report, op. cit., note 425, pp. 21-22; Carol Rosenberg, “Web Extra – A prison camps primer”, Miami Herald website, last
updated on 15 June 2014, <http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/guantanamo/article1939250.html>.
581
The NDAA bans all transfers of Guantánamo detainees to the United States, which effectively prevents any transfer for
emergency medical care. Although it has been proposed that an exception allowing for emergency medical care in the United
States, in limited circumstances, be included in the NDAA, in the past, the final Act has so far not incorporated this provision.
582
UN CAT, Third to fifth periodic reports of States parties due in 2011, United States of America, op. cit., note 162, para. 222;
Walsh Report, op. cit., note 422, p. 52.
117
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