Forced drugging added to Guantanamo abuse charges

Court documents show a number of former Guantanamo prisoners who are seeking damages for years of torture and abuse at the notorious US-run prison have also been forcibly drugged.

On Friday, a federal appeals court in the US heard arguments on a civil lawsuit brought by five former Guantanamo prisoners who alleged they were subjected to physical, mental, and sexual abuse while at the prison.

“From their earliest interactions with US soldiers and interrogators, Mr Celikgogus, Mr Sen, Mr Mert, Mr Hasam and Mr Muhammad were subjected to physical, mental and religious abuse carried out by US soldiers and/or civilians who were under the command authority of officials in the Department of Defense,” Russell Cohen, lawyer for the men, said in the appeal.

The former Guantanamo prisoners, who are now settled in other countries, are from Turkey, Uzbekistan, and Algeria.

On Monday, Firedoglake.com reported that what went unnoticed in the thin press coverage of the case was that four of the former prisoners also charged US officials with forced drugging via pills and injections.

According to court documents, Yuksel Celikgogus, Ibrahim Sen, and Nuri Mert, all from Turkey, and Zakirjan Hasam, from Uzbekistan, were repeatedly forced to take unspecified pills and injections.

Some of the defendants in the suit include former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, former Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Richard Myers, and former director of the Joint Intelligence Group at Guantanamo Esteban Rodriguez.