support of any form of torture or ill-treatment constitutes a gross contravention of medical ethics. In recognition of the crucial role played by health-care professionals in the protection from torture, it is also a contravention for health personnel to assist in the interrogation of prisoners or detainees in a manner that: • may adversely affect their physical or mental health; • certifies their fitness for any form of treatment or punishment that may adversely affect their physical or mental health (Principle 4); or • participates in the restraining of a prisoner or detainee unless such a procedure is necessary to protect the health or safety of the person concerned, other detainees or guardians, and presents no hazard to the detainee’s physical or mental health. Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment (1988) 318 These Principles guarantee rights of persons under arrest and detention to, inter alia: • legal assistance; • medical care; and • access to records of their detention, arrest, interrogation and medical treatment. They also require states to prohibit any act contrary to the Principles, make such acts subject to appropriate sanctions, and conduct impartial investigations of complaints. Of relevance to counter-terrorism interrogation techniques, the term “cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment” should be interpreted “so as to extend to the widest possible protection against abuses, whether physical or mental, including the holding of a detained or imprisoned person in conditions which deprive him, temporarily or permanently, of the use of any of his natural senses, such as sight or hearing, or of his awareness of place and the passing of time.”319 No detained person may be subjected to violence, threats or methods of interrogation that impair his or her decision-making capacity or judgment. No detainee may be subjected, even with his or her consent, to medical experimentation that may be detrimental to his or her health. Non-compliance with the Principles in obtaining evidence should be taken into account when determining the admissibility of evidence against a detained person. Detained persons or their legal representatives have the right to lodge a complaint, especially regarding torture or other ill-treatment, with the authorities responsible for the place of the detention and, where necessary, to appropriate authorities vested with reviewing power. Such complaints should be promptly dealt with and replied to without undue delay. No complainant should suffer prejudice for lodging a complaint.320 318 Adopted by UN General Assembly resolution 43/173 of 9 December 1988. 319 Ibid., Principle 6. See also op. cit., note 5, 1991 Moscow Document, para. 23.1 (ix). 320 Op. cit., note 5, 1991 Moscow Document, para. 23.1 (x). 118 Countering Terrorism, Protecting Human Rights