CIA torture: health professionals 'may have committed war crimes', report says

Physicians for Human Rights called for federal investigation on
CIA torture program participation, calling rectal feeding technique
‘form of sexual assault’

Dominic Rushe in New York
theguardian.com, Tuesday 16 December 2014 14.30 GMT

Health professionals who assisted in the CIA’s torture programme of terror suspects “betrayed the most fundamental duty of the healing professions” and may have committed war crimes, according to a hard hitting report released on Tuesday.

Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) called for a federal commission to investigate the full extent of health professionals’ participation in CIA torture following last week’s release of the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) report on the agency’s detention and interrogation programme.

“Under the auspices of the Bush administration, the CIA systematically tortured suspected terrorist detainees, in at least one instance to the point of death. This torture program heavily relied on the participation and active engagement of health professionals to commit, conceal, and attempt to justify these crimes,” PHR concludes.

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