{"id":235597,"date":"2024-01-12T14:34:00","date_gmt":"2024-01-12T19:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/?post_type=bu-article&#038;p=235597"},"modified":"2024-01-12T18:14:55","modified_gmt":"2024-01-12T23:14:55","slug":"on-medicalized-rape-at-cia-secret-prisons-the-medical-profession-should-not-stand-silent","status":"publish","type":"bu-article","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/news\/articles\/2024\/on-medicalized-rape-at-cia-secret-prisons-the-medical-profession-should-not-stand-silent\/","title":{"rendered":"On Medicalized Rape at CIA Secret Prisons, the \u2018Medical Profession Should Not Stand Silent\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\t<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-leadin sphnews-block-editorial-leadin is-style-default-alt has-media has-media-focus-center-middle has-light-theme\">\n\t\t<div class=\"container-lockup\">\n\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-leadin-media\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<img width=\"1600\" height=\"1071\" src=\"\/sph\/files\/2024\/01\/Guards_prepare_to_escort_a_Guantanamo_captive_to_the_Camp_Four_medical_facility_on_Nov_23_2007.jpg\" class=\"\" alt=\"Guards prepare to escort a Guantanamo captive to the Camp Four medical facility. The guards and captive are visible only from the waist down.\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2024\/01\/Guards_prepare_to_escort_a_Guantanamo_captive_to_the_Camp_Four_medical_facility_on_Nov_23_2007.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2024\/01\/Guards_prepare_to_escort_a_Guantanamo_captive_to_the_Camp_Four_medical_facility_on_Nov_23_2007-636x426.jpg 636w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2024\/01\/Guards_prepare_to_escort_a_Guantanamo_captive_to_the_Camp_Four_medical_facility_on_Nov_23_2007-1024x685.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2024\/01\/Guards_prepare_to_escort_a_Guantanamo_captive_to_the_Camp_Four_medical_facility_on_Nov_23_2007-768x514.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2024\/01\/Guards_prepare_to_escort_a_Guantanamo_captive_to_the_Camp_Four_medical_facility_on_Nov_23_2007-1536x1028.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2024\/01\/Guards_prepare_to_escort_a_Guantanamo_captive_to_the_Camp_Four_medical_facility_on_Nov_23_2007-755x505.jpg 755w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2024\/01\/Guards_prepare_to_escort_a_Guantanamo_captive_to_the_Camp_Four_medical_facility_on_Nov_23_2007-1494x1000.jpg 1494w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2024\/01\/Guards_prepare_to_escort_a_Guantanamo_captive_to_the_Camp_Four_medical_facility_on_Nov_23_2007-450x300.jpg 450w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2024\/01\/Guards_prepare_to_escort_a_Guantanamo_captive_to_the_Camp_Four_medical_facility_on_Nov_23_2007-900x602.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2024\/01\/Guards_prepare_to_escort_a_Guantanamo_captive_to_the_Camp_Four_medical_facility_on_Nov_23_2007-1200x803.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-leadin-caption wp-prepress-component-caption\">Credit: Wikimedia Commons<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-outer\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-inner\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"wp-prepress-tag\">torture<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"head\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<strong>On Medica<\/strong>lized Rape<strong> at\u00a0CIA Secret Prisons, the \u2018Medical Profession Should Not Stand Silent\u2019<\/strong>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"deck\">In\u00a0a new\u00a0<em>JAMA<\/em>\u00a0viewpoint, Sondra Crosby and Leonard Glantz denounce rectal feeding practices that occurred at these prisons, and call for medical officers who enabled this \u201cmedicalized rape\u201d to be held\u00a0accountable for violating\u00a0ethical and legal standards.<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar sphnews-prepress-layout-metabar\">\n\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-date\">January 12, 2024<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-credits\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul data-credit-type=\"By\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/news\/authors\/jillian-mckoy\/\">Jillian McKoy<\/a><\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-share js-bu-prepress-share-tools\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-twitter\"><span>Twitter<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-facebook\"><span>Facebook<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-action\"><\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\n\n\n<p>Nearly 10 years ago, a US Senate Intelligence committee&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.intelligence.senate.gov\/%20study2014\/sscistudy1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">report<\/a> detailed for the first time the horrors of forced rectal feeding inflicted upon detainees at CIA secret prisons. The victims of this abuse were later transferred to the Guant\u00e1namo Bay detention camp for indefinite confinement.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, as the country marks the 22<sup>nd<\/sup> year of the opening of Guant\u00e1namo Bay, two School of Public Health researchers are calling for the medical officers involved in this unethical and discredited practice at these prisons to be held accountable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/jamanetwork.com\/journals\/jama\/fullarticle\/2813500?resultClick=1\" target=\"_blank\">Published in the journal&nbsp;<em>JAMA<\/em><\/a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/profile\/sondra-crosby\/\">Sondra Crosby<\/a>, professor of health law, ethics &amp; human rights, and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/profile\/leonard-glantz\/\">Leonard Glantz<\/a>, emeritus professor of health law, policy &amp; management, equate rectal feeding to torture and argue that medical officers who authorized, ordered, or participated in this nonconsensual and medically ineffective practice have committed acts that meet the legal definition of rape. These officials have never been identified or formally punished for their actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMedical officers are not absolved of ethical and legal responsibility for their actions when they commit heinous acts on behalf of and with permission of the state,\u201d Crosby and Glantz write. \u201cWe believe that any CIA physicians and all other medical officers who authorized or participated in the rectal feeding of these prisoners cannot be entrusted to protect the welfare of patients once they return to civilian positions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Modern medicine has long rejected rectal feeding, which was once thought to be an alternative method of providing nutrition. CIA officials alleged that this forced feeding was a necessary action to end detainees\u2019 hunger strikes. But last August, a military judge&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/08\/26\/us\/%20politics\/torture-uss-cole-september-11.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ruled<\/a> that it was an illegitimate medical practice.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe sequelae of rape can persist for decades and even a lifetime,\u201d the authors write, stating that anal rape survivors often experience both physical and psychological harms, from depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, to rectal perforation, infections, and chronic pain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cBoth ethical and legal standards require reasonable medical judgment and prohibit providing treatment that cannot benefit a patient,\u201d Crosby and Glantz write. \u201c\u2026Furthermore, international human rights laws, and basic human decency, prohibit participation in cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment that can constitute torture. If any of the involved medical officers were physicians, they would have violated their fundamental ethical obligations by using their medical skills to intentionally inflict harm on individuals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Both Crosby and Glantz have studied health law and human rights issues extensively. Crosby, who is also a professor of medicine at&nbsp;Boston University Chobanian &amp; Avedisian School of Medicine, serves&nbsp;as a court-approved medical expert on torture.&nbsp;In 2008, she and colleagues at&nbsp;Physicians for Human Rights&nbsp;led the&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/phr.org\/our-work\/resources\/broken-laws-broken-lives\/\" target=\"_blank\">first investigation<\/a> of human rights violations associated with&nbsp;CIA interrogations of detained individuals.&nbsp;Last February, she&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/02\/24\/us\/politics\/cia-torture-guantanamo-nashiri-doctor.html?unlocked_article_code=1.F00.ivAd.m0lF-ETRGiKB&amp;smid=url-share\" target=\"_blank\">testified in court to denounce the rectal feeding<\/a> practices in the secret prisons, describing graphic details of the effects of torture, based on exclusive interviews she conducted with&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/08\/18\/us\/politics\/guantanamo-cole-bombing-confession-torture.html\" target=\"_blank\">suspected terrorist<\/a> Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Identifying the medical officers who enabled or participated in sexual assault by rectal feeding is crucial, the authors conclude, to determine whether legal or professional action against them is warranted. \u201cThe medical profession should not stand silent when its members commit atrocities under the guise of medicine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories is-style-card has-two sphnews-block-editorial-relatedstories\">\n\t\t<h3 class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-title\">Related<\/h3>\n\t\t<ul class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-list\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-list-item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<article class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-image\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img width=\"400\" height=\"241\" src=\"\/sph\/files\/2018\/01\/Nuremberg-Guantanamo-400x362.png\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Guards from the Navy Expeditionary Guard Battalion escort a detainee into the medical facility in Guantanamo Bay Detainment Camp Four Nov. 23, 2007.\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-category\"><span>Alumni<\/span><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/news\/articles\/2018\/from-nuremberg-to-guantanamo-medical-professionals-enabled-torture\/\" class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-title-link\">From Nuremberg to Guant\u00e1namo, Medical Professionals Enabled Torture<\/a><\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-date\">January 10, 2018<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nearly 10 years ago, a US Senate Intelligence committee&nbsp;report detailed for the first time the horrors of forced rectal feeding inflicted upon detainees at CIA secret prisons. The victims of this abuse were later transferred to the Guant\u00e1namo Bay detention camp for indefinite confinement.&nbsp; Now, as the country marks the 22nd year of the opening [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15205,"featured_media":235604,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"bu_prepress_billboard":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term":"torture","_bu_prepress_primary_term_manual":""},"tags":[4415,2392,2178,3887,2204],"bu-publication":[3516],"sphnews-article-category":[],"sphnews-topic":[],"bu_edition":[],"media_type":[],"profile_tax":[1931,2217],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/235597"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/bu-article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15205"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=235597"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/235597\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":235687,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/235597\/revisions\/235687"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/235604"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=235597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=235597"},{"taxonomy":"bu-publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-publication?post=235597"},{"taxonomy":"sphnews-article-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sphnews-article-category?post=235597"},{"taxonomy":"sphnews-topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sphnews-topic?post=235597"},{"taxonomy":"bu_edition","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu_edition?post=235597"},{"taxonomy":"media_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media_type?post=235597"},{"taxonomy":"profile_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profile_tax?post=235597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}