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Judicial attempts to hold military physicians individually accountable have proven diffi cult. Earlier this year a suit was brought against Dr. John S. Edmondson, the previous commander of Guantánamo’s hospital, in an attempt to have his medical license revoked in California for violating ethical standards of practice. The Medical Board of California dismissed the case, stating that they “have no jurisdiction to take action against a military physician practicing on a military base,” unless the military has taken action fi rst. Like other critics of the practice, Dr. Grodon points out that in medical ethics, “everybody is responsible for their own actions.” “After Nuremburg, it’s very clear that just following orders is not an acceptable [defense].”
There are avenues other than prosecution to improve the situation at Guantánamo. One of the best things the military can do is to be open and transparent. If there is access to information, public awareness and scrutiny of the issue can be raised. Dr. Grodin recounts the trouble he had accessing the medical records of the detainees he is defending: “We don’t know what’s going on…we had to bring a lawsuit to get access to the medical records. The detainee says he was force-fed over the last six months, but the military denies it. So how do you verify it unless you can have access to the records?”
When information is made available to the public, it is often distorted. The gravity of the hunger strikes and the motivations behind them are routinely downplayed. In a 2005 news briefi ng, former Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld described hunger strikers at Guantánamo as “a number of people who go on a diet where they don’t eat food for a period and then go off of it at some point” in an attempt “to get the attention of [the media].” Rear Admiral Harry Harris Jr., commander of Joint Task Force Guantánamo, has characterized the hunger strikers as “waging their war, their jihad against America” by refusing food. He adds, “We just have to stop them.”
Without increased transparency at Guantánamo the public scrutiny necessary to effect change is unlikely to materialize. Until this happens, military doctors and their commanding offi cers will continue to exercise total control over the bodies of prisoners, denying many of them their only means of protesting the conditions of indefi nite detention. “Force-feeding the hunger strikers,” Dr. Grodin says, “is what I consider a violation of international humanitarian law, of international human rights law, and minimum ethics, in which case I think you need to shine a light, and bring it to people’s attention.” It remains to be seen if and how such action will occur. “It’s pretty tough,” he admits. “People don’t seem to care about Guantánamo.” Alexander Bazazi is a junior at Boston University.
Alexander Bazazi is a junior at Boston University.