56 | Towards the Closure of Guantanamo 114. With regard to the role and responsibility of health professionals, the IACHR highlights that, according to the Istanbul Protocol, it is a gross contravention of health-care ethics to participate, actively or passively, in torture or condone it in any way. 111 The Principles of Medical Ethics relevant to the Role of Health Personnel, particularly Physicians, in the Protection of Prisoners and Detainees against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, make clear that health professionals have a moral duty to protect the physical and mental health of detainees and that assessment of detainees’ health in order to facilitate punishment or torture is clearly unethical. 112 In this regard, participation in torture includes “evaluating an individual’s capacity to withstand ill-treatment; being present at, supervising or inflicting maltreatment; resuscitating individuals for the purpose of further maltreatment or providing medical treatment immediately before, during or after torture on the instructions of those likely to be responsible for it; providing professional knowledge or individuals’ personal health information to torturers; and intentionally neglecting evidence and falsifying reports, such as autopsy reports and death certificates.” 113 115. The Inter-American Commission notes that conditions at Guantanamo today have improved since the days of Camp X-Ray. On his second day in office President Obama issued Executive Order 13491, Ensuring Lawful Interrogations, directing the U.S. military and other U.S. agencies to follow the Army Field Manual, which bans torture when interrogating detainees, “to promote the safe, lawful and humane treatment of individuals in United States custody” in accordance with Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions. 114 The Executive Order revoked all executive directives, orders, and regulations inconsistent with this order, including but not limited to those issued by the CIA from September 11, 2001, to January 20, 2009. Further, in its response to this report, the United States claimed that the harsh interrogation techniques highlighted in the SSCI Report “are not representative of how the United States deals with the threat of terrorism today, and are not consistent with [U.S.] values.” 115 111 112 113 114 115 Istanbul Protocol, Manual on the Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Professional Training Series No. 8/Rev.1, United Nations, New York and Geneva, 2004, para. 52. Available at: http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/training8Rev1en.pdf Principles of Medical Ethics relevant to the Role of Health Personnel, particularly Physicians, in the Protection of Prisoners and Detainees against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, adopted by General Assembly resolution 37/194 of 18 December 1982. Istanbul Protocol, Manual on the Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Professional Training Series No. 8/Rev.1, United Nations, New York and Geneva, 2004, para. 53. Executive Order 13491, Ensuring Lawful Interrogations, January 22, 2009. Available at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/ensuring-lawful-interrogations 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. 5. Organization of American States | OAS