CIA RDI Programme also indicates that two psychologists contracted by the CIA “devised the CIA’s enhanced interrogation techniques and played a central role in the operation, assessments, and management” of the programme.476 The psychologists were consulted in the development of the interrogation methods by transforming into interrogation techniques training methods used by the US military in the SERE programme to resist torture. They are said to have “personally conducted interrogations of some of the CIA’s most significant detainees using these techniques”, and evaluated the psychological state of detainees to clear them for their continued interrogation.477 In general, while medical officers were to be present during certain interrogations in order to ensure that “the procedures [would] be stopped if deemed medically necessary to prevent severe (…) harm”,478 reports state that the interrogation process took “precedence” over detainees’ medical care.479 238. At Guantánamo, behavioural science consultants480 played a key role in the development of SERE-based abusive interrogation methods and provided advice on detention conditions that would enhance the shock of capture and foster the dependence of the detainees on their interrogators.481 Reports indicate that their main role was also to assess detainees’ vulnerabilities, review their medical records, advise interrogators on how to best exploit these elements in interrogations and participate in or be present in interrogations.482 A log of the interrogation of al Qahtani, for instance, shows that medical personnel treated detainees during periods of interrogations.483 noting that “prior to interrogation, each detainee is evaluated by, medical and psychological professionals”, that “subsequent' medical rechecks during the interrogation period should be performed on a regular basis", and that medical and psychological professionals’ “function is to monitor interrogations and the heath of the detainee”, inter alia. See, also, Senate Study on the CIA RDI Programme, Executive Summary, op. cit., note 171, p. 490. 476 Senate Study on the CIA RDI Programme, Findings and Conclusions, op. cit., note 388, p. 11. 477 Ibid.; Senate Study on the CIA RDI Programme, Executive Summary, op. cit., note 171, p. 32. See, also, ECtHR, Al Nashiri v. Poland, op. cit., note 172, para. 401. 478 Bybee, “Memorandum: ‘Interrogation of Al Qaeda Operative’”, op. cit., note 344, p. 4. 479 See, for instance, Senate Study on the CIA RDI Programme, Executive Summary, op. cit., note 171, pp. 111-113, 490-493. 480 It has been reported that, since the end of 2002, a team of behavioural science consultants (BSCT) has usually been composed of a clinical psychologist, a psychiatrist and a mental health specialist. The first BSCT at Guantánamo however reportedly consisted of a psychiatrist, clinical psychologist, and a psychological technician (non-physician). Contrary to healthcare professionals assigned to the Joint Medical Group, they were not supposed to “conduct medical evaluation or treatment of detainees”. Ethics Abandoned, op. cit., note 430, p. 29; “Memorandum for record – BSCT Standard Operating Procedures”, Joint Task Force Guantánamo, 11 November 2002, paras. 2, 6, <http://humanrights.ucdavis.edu/projects/the-guantanamo-testimonialsproject/testimonies/testimonies-of-standard-operating-procedures/bsct_sop_2002.pdf>. For more information about behavioural science consultants, see, also, Walsh Report, op. cit., note 422, pp. 59-60. 481 “Senate Armed Services Committee Inquiry into the Treatment of Detainees in U.S. Custody”, United States Senate Armed Services Committee, op. cit., note 403, pp. 50-52: “According to [Major] Burney, the BSCT psychiatrist, (…) ‘there was increasing pressure to get ‘tougher’ with detainee interrogations (…). According to [Major] Burney, he and [redacted] wrote a memo of suggested detention and interrogations policies. (…) [T]he BSCT psychologist, also told the Committee that the BSCT used information from the [Joint Personnel Recovery Agency] training (…) to draft the memo (…). In addition to suggesting interrogation techniques, the BSCT memo made recommendations for the treatment of detainees in the cell blocks (…). [It] advocated that ‘all aspects of the [detention] environment should enhance capture shock, dislocate expectations, foster dependence, and support exploitation to the fullest extent possible’ ”. The Joint Personnel Recovery Agency operates the SERE programme. See, also, Ethics Abandoned, op. cit., note 430, pp. 28-31. 482 UN Special Procedures, “Situation of detainees at Guantánamo Bay”, op. cit., note 23, para. 75; Ethics Abandoned, ibid., pp. xvii-xviii, 30-31. 483 “Interrogation Log, Detainee 063”, op. cit., note 401, pp. 5, 6, 9-10, 16-17, 25, 31, 35, inter alia; Ethics Abandoned, ibid., p. 42. 103