(Page 4 of 5)

P.H.: From which sources have you collected evidence of abuse at Guantánamo Bay?

Bloche: Our evidence comes from a range of sources, some of which were made available through the ACLU litigation, from websites, and from documents and interviews we were able to obtain from confi dential sources. We talked to a variety of people who were close to the process of developing and implementing medical and psychological support for the interrogation process. They include people from within the Pentagon, retired and active members of the military, and civilians.

We did not have the opportunity to interview the prisoners ourselves. Multiple times, we tried to get permission to go to Guantánamo but offi cials did not agree to that. The Health Services Committee held a hearing in which the commander of Guantánamo attacked our work, in part condemning us for not wanting to visit, when in fact we tried many times.

After our editorials came out [concerning abuse], military offi cials planned a special trip to Guantánamo for representatives of the American Psychological Association, American Psychiatric Association, and the American Medical Association. They were put on a private jet, served nice meals, given a binder with a point-by-point rebuttal of our articles and reports. Though they were permitted meetings with commanders, they were not allowed to speak with a single prisoner. One of the representatives with which I spoke said she was utterly unconvinced and that the rebuttal did not logically respond to what we reported. The president of the APA wrote in an Op- Ed for the New York Times that despite the ample attempt to rebut our claims, they were unsuccessful.

That being said, the people making this effort were largely the civilian leadership under Rumsfeld and not the military. There are many in the military with whom we have spoken who were, for the most, deeply troubled by what they had to do. It is much to their credit that many are actually speaking out. The pressure on Rumsfeld to [support these interrogation practices] has been great. I hope now that he has resigned, there will be some alleviation of the pressure on physicians to act in this inhumane way.