272. Medical care at Guantánamo appears to have improved over time. Interlocutors informed ODIHR that for certain medical conditions, the present quality of care seems to be equivalent or higher than in other detention facilities in the United States. However, aspects of basic medical care at Guantánamo are said to remain problematic and inadequate.583 273. Whereas some former detainees reportedly said they received appropriate medical care at Guantánamo,584 a number of reports and concurring testimonies appear to contradict this conclusion. Medical care, especially prior to 2008, has been said to not only be “inadequate and negligent, but also abusive”.585 274. In interviews with ODIHR, former detainees transferred from Guantánamo between 2006 and 2009 relayed complaints of long delays or denial of medical treatment, inadequate care, and provision of treatment conditioned upon co-operation with interrogators, as well as humiliating treatment by medical personnel and forced drugging during their detention. More specifically, they indicated that their medical and dental treatment had been denied or delayed for a year or more.586 In addition, they described that when they did receive medical care, the treatment was provided in humiliating circumstances and was often inadequate. Mustafa Ait Idir explained that after half of his face was paralysed following a beating, a medical technician “started making fun of [him], humiliating [him, asking if he had] AIDS (…) The technician said he would give [him] a sleeping pill (…) [He] gave [him] a small plaster and told [him] to put it over [his] eye when [he] wanted to sleep and to take it off when [he] was not sleeping”.587 He and Lakhdar Boumediene also recalled circumstances where medical staff told them that they needed to co-operate with interrogators to receive their medication. Some of the former detainees interviewed by ODIHR also alleged being subjected to forced drugging and receiving medication for mental-illness without their consent.588 583 ODIHR interview with Brigadier General Stephen Xenakis, op. cit., note 231; ODIHR interview with Scott Allen, op. cit., note 231; ODIHR interview with the Center for Constitutional Rights, op. cit., note 255. 584 These detainees were treated for tuberculosis and a diabetic foot ulcer. Broken Laws, Broken Lives: Medical Evidence of Torture by US Personnel and Its Impact (Cambridge: Physicians for Human Rights, 2008), p. 7, <https://s3.amazonaws.com/PHR_Reports/BrokenLaws_14.pdf>. 585 IACHR, Ameziane v. United States, “Petition”, op. cit., note 527, para. 61. 586 ODIHR interview with David Hicks, op. cit., note 228: Hicks explained that he developed large and painful lumps in his breasts that remained for over a year. Despite his complaints, this was not treated. He also mentioned the bad condition of his teeth as a major problem caused by five and a half years of detention where he was not able to brush them; ODIHR interview with Murat Kurnaz, op. cit., note 400: Kurnaz stressed that he had a severe toothache and asked, unsuccessfully, to see a dentist for approximately two years; ODIHR interview with Lakhdar Boumediene, op. cit., note 216: Boumediene told ODIHR that he waited for about eight months for the removal of a tooth; ODIHR interview with Mustafa Ait Idir and Hajj Boudella, op. cit., note 217: Boudella mentioned the bad condition of his teeth, which were rotten due to the water, and left untreated. 587 ODIHR interview with Mustafa Ait Idir and Hajj Boudella, ibid. Murat Kurnaz and David Hicks also described incidents which would testify to the degrading and humiliating circumstances in which medical care was sometimes reportedly provided. ODIHR interview with Murat Kurnaz, ibid.; ODIHR interview with David Hicks, ibid. See, also, IACHR, Ameziane v. United States, “Petition”, op. cit., note 527, para. 61. 588 ODIHR interview with David Hicks, ibid.: Hicks stressed his fear of forced drug injections, which he said were regular and left him without control over his body. He also reported being drugged prior to his notice of charge in 2007.; United States Court of Military Commission Review, David Hicks v. United States of America, “Appellant’s Motion to Attach”, 5 November 2013, paras. 257-259, <http://ccrjustice.org/files/Hicks_v_UnitedStates_MotiontoAttach%282013-11-05%29.pdf>; ODIHR interview with Murat Kurnaz, ibid.: Kurnaz said that detainees were forced to take drugs against malaria, among other drugs, even though there was no malaria in Guantánamo. Detainees were reportedly not informed of the side effects of the malaria medication, which included hallucinations; ODIHR interview with Lakhdar Boumediene, op. cit., note 216: Boumediene stated that he was given drugs every day. He alleged that he was once injected with penicillin after he had informed doctors that he was allergic to it, and 118