Anti-psychotic drugs 'forced on detainee'

Documents released by the Pentagon last week following a Freedom of Information request by US journalists revealed that powerful anti-psychotic sedatives were routinely used on "unco-operative" Guantanamo prisoners.

Legal action charity Reprieve has expressed concern that Mr Aamer, who has been held without trial for a decade and suffered severe abuse and lengthy periods in isolation, may have been one of those subjected to this barbaric treatment.

According to the declassified report written by the Pentagon's inspector general many Guantanamo prisoners have been routinely injected with powerful anti-psychotic sedatives.

So-called "unco-operative" detainees were forced to take regular injections known as "chemical restraints."

Prisoners were often not told what medications they received and were tricked into believing routine flu shots were truth serums.

The report documents the use of Haldol, an anti-psychotic sedative which causes intense grogginess. 

Side effects include depression, muscle contractions, suicidal behavior, long-term movement disorders and life-threatening neurological disorders.

Less commonly, the drug can cause heart problems leading to sudden death.

It was previously known that detainees had been given large quantities of mefloquine, an anti-malarial drug with severe side effects.

There have long been claims that Guantanamo prisoners were injected with unknown chemicals during or prior to interrogation, but this is thought to be the first concrete evidence of such practices.

Reprieve is calling on the British goverment to seek answers from the US as to whether Mr Aamer was among the prisoners exposed to this treatment. 

The charity's legal director Cori Crider said: "While Shaker has an irrepressible spirit, the authorities seem determined to grind him down to nothing.

"During his imprisonment he has lost 40 per cent of his body weight, he now suffers from multiple illnesses and injuries and his face bears the marks of intense suffering. Now we find that prisoners have been forced to take drugs with dangerous side-effects.

"The British government must immediately seek answers from the US as to whether Shaker was fed these chemicals and demand that he is freed from Guantanamo before it is too late."

A Foreign Office spokesman said the case remained a high priority and "we continue to make clear to the US that we want him released and returned to the UK as a matter of urgency. However we cannot put a timescale on this."

He added: "We take any allegations of Mr Aamer's mistreatment seriously. We will follow up any concerns that are brought to our attention with the relevant US authorities, asking them to investigate and report back to us."

paddym@peoples-press.com