Physicians for Human Rights, based in Cambridge, MA, conducted extensive physical and mental examinations of eleven former prisoners from Abu Ghraib and Gitmo. One of the doctors who did the exams said:
"We found clear physical and psychological evidence of torture and abuse, often causing lasting suffering."
All eleven said they had been subjected to stress positions (such as being suspended by their arms for hours or tightly shackled for days), sensory deprivation (isolation and prolonged blindfolding or hooding), extreme heat or cold, and threats against themselves and their families by the interrogators.
Some were forced to be naked for days or weeks, experienced prolonged sleep deprivation, and were threatened with military dogs. One said he was sodomized with a stick and received electric shocks - he has the scars to prove it. Others were forced to wear women's underwear and were paraded around naked in front of female guards. Some were sodomized, subjected to anal probing, or threatened with rape.
In 2002, military lawyers warned the Pentagon that these tactics were illegal and would ultimately hurt U.S. troops. But a CIA lawyer said torture is "subject to perception."
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