Witnesses back Hicks on chemical torture

Witnesses back Hicks on chemical torture



"It was like the death of myself and I felt like it
was irreversible" ... David Hicks on his pyschological reaction to the
injections. Photo: Jacky Ghossein

Long-held claims by the former detainee David Hicks that he
was drugged against his will have been backed by evidence from a
prominent attorney, independent investigations and previously secret
reports.

Details of the mistreatment of the former Guantanamo Bay
inmate were set to emerge publicly for the first time in the Australian
government's proceeds of crime action against him - until the government
abandoned its case. It would have been Mr Hicks's first day in a
properly constituted court. But Commonwealth prosecutors decided that
their case to seize revenue from his book about his Guantanamo
experience would not stand up.

Mr Hicks's lawyers would have used new evidence from US
authorities that would then have become public. By dropping the case,
the shutters have been brought down on what happened, and some documents
are to be kept secret.

The Sun-Herald understands that these documents were expected to shed light on the appalling treatment of detainees. The Sun-Herald has also been given affidavits that were to be presented in court confirming that Mr Hicks had been drugged against his will.

Other investigations show that Guantanamo Bay detainees,
including David Hicks, were forced to take high dosages of the
controversial anti-malaria drug mefloquine despite showing no signs of
the disease, an unprecedented practice that has been likened to
''pharmacologic waterboarding'' by a US military doctor.

Questions have been raised about whether the mass
administration of the drug to detainees was a secret, illegal experiment
after a medical journal article last month by an army doctor, Major
Remington Nevin, highlighted the ''inappropriate use'' of the drug,
asking if its use had been motivated by its psychotic side effects. The
US Centre for Disease Control has issued a warning against the use of
mefloquine on anyone suffering psychiatric disturbances or having a
history of depression. Dr Nevin has also warned that high doses of the
drug can cause brain injuries.

Evidence including previously secret reports and witnesses
including a Guantanamo guard, and New York lawyer, Josh Dratel, support
Mr Hicks's claims that he was drugged. Mr Dratel, who has top secret
security clearance from the US Department of Justice and has acted for a
number of detainees including Mr Hicks, was to give direct evidence of
the ''non-therapeutic'' drugging. In an affidavit prepared for the
trial, Mr Dratel revealed that US prosecutors had admitted that Mr
Hicks's claims that ''guards had forced him to eat a meal which
contained a sedative before they read him the charges'' were true. He
was told it had been done to protect the officers from his reactions.

Former Guantanamo guard Brandon Neely also supplied an
affidavit for the trial saying that detainees were regularly beaten for
refusing to take the medications.

Mr Neely has also said that the doctors never told the detainees what drugs they were being given.

Just what drugs were being administered in some cases may
never be known. Medical records are apparently incomplete, with names
and dosages of some drugs removed.

Stephen Kenny, one of the first lawyers allowed into
Guantanamo Bay and who acted initially for Mr Hicks, has called for a
full inquiry.

''If they were genuine medications then why does the name of
the drug need to be removed?'' asked Mr Kenny, who is also a spokesman
for The Justice Campaign.

Further evidence of forced druggings by injection at
Guantanamo has been revealed in a previously secret US Department of
Defence intelligence report into allegations of the use of mind-altering
drugs to facilitate interrogation. The report obtained under freedom of
information laws by the independent US news outlet, Truthout, uncovered
evidence that ''pyschoactive medication was administered to detainees
for mental health purposes and that these injections were sometimes
forced with unco-operative detainees''. It also found that ''chemical
restraints were used on detainees that posed a threat to themselves''
and detainees being treated with psychoactive drugs that impaired their
mental functions were interrogated while under the effects of the
medication.

Such forced druggings and abuse handed out to Mr Hicks and
other detainees was to be at the heart of his defence against the
Australian government's legal action to stop him receiving proceeds of
crime by collecting royalties from his book Guantanamo: My Journey.

After 6½ years in detention, Mr Hicks made an Alford plea -
which is not recognised in Australia - meaning that he acknowledged the
evidence but did not make any admissions. It meant he was convicted in
the US of providing material support for terrorism but he was allowed to
go home and serve a seven-month prison sentence.

The 37-year-old lives in Sydney and is working as a panel
beater, but claims that the pain he suffers as a result of the druggings
means that he now relies on painkillers.

On July 24, a week before his case was due to go to trial in
the NSW Supreme Court, the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions
dropped the case, saying it would have been unable to satisfy the court
that any admissions made by Mr Hicks at Guantanamo should be relied upon
and that Mr Hicks had served evidence not previously available.

A statement released by the CDPP said Mr Hicks had
challenged the admissibility of the evidence against him, including the
certificate of conviction from the Guantanamo military court and the
transcripts of the court's hearings.

''If, at any stage in the conduct of legal proceedings by the
office, there is a concern as to the sufficiency of available evidence,
then the office will review the matter regardless of what stage the
proceedings have reached in the court process,'' the statement said. A
spokesman for the Attorney-General, Nicola Roxon, declined to comment,
saying it was a matter for the CDPP.

When Mr Hicks returned to Australia and was serving the
seven-month term in Adelaide's Yatala prison, he requested blood tests
be taken to determine what drugs he had been given. He was refused, and
by the time he was released it was too late to detect traces in his
system.

Mr Hicks's lawyer, Steven Glass from Gilbert and Tobin, said:
''The only thing David has wanted since he was first detained in 2001
was to have the allegations against him determined by a properly
constituted court applying the rule of law. The trial in the NSW
Supreme Court would have been the first time he had that opportunity.''

Mr Hicks said he had mixed feelings about the case being dismissed.

''Preparing for the case brought back memories of my ordeal
in Guantanamo and interfered with my life terribly. But I am
disappointed that the case was dropped because it was the first time I
could have my day in court and the Australian people could have heard
what actually went on,'' he said.

The opportunity to see previously classified documents has been lost.

''During the period leading up to the trial, proposed
evidence was exchanged between the parties, including evidence that had
been provided to the Australian authorities by the US authorities at
Guantanamo,'' Mr Glass said. ''We were planning to rely on that
evidence at trial.''

Known drugs administered to Hicks

MEFLOQUINE

Questions have been raised about the use of this anti-malarial drug for illegal and secret experiments.

High dosages were given to all detainees, including David
Hicks, to stop the spread of malaria. But it was not given to staff
brought into the centre from malaria-endemic countries.

Army doctor Remington Nevin said mass administration of the
drug in such high doses to people who are asymptomatic or uninfected
was akin to ''pharmacologic waterboarding''.

Anti-malaria drugs were used for experimental research by the
CIA in the 1950s under its MK-ULTRA mind control program, according to
research by independent news outlet Truthout. The US Food and Drug
Administration product guide says it can cause mental health problems,
including anxiety, hallucinations, depression and unusual behaviour.
It has been linked to brain injuries, suicidal and homicidal thoughts,
depression and anxiety.

Concerns about the medication's side effects resurfaced in
March when a former Army psychiatrist listed it among the medications
possibly taken by Army Staff Sergeant Robert Bales, charged in the
shooting deaths of 16 Afghan civilians.

GI COCKTAIL

A gastro-intestinal mix of drugs that is supposed to contain
liquid antacid, similar to Mylanta, and a mild anaesthetic such as
lidocaine. But Mr Hicks said that after taking it, he became so drowsy
he couldn't stay awake.


Sourc:-
http://www.smh.com.au/national/witnesses-back-hicks-on-chemical-torture-20120915-25z05.html