L. Withholding Medical Care
We questioned the FBI agents about allegations that medical care was withheld from detainees. One agent described an incident that caused her to question whether adequate care was provided to a detainee, and several needs had not been addressed. However, we received no reports that medical care was ever intentionally delayed or denied to a detainee.
One agent told the OIG that in early April 2004 she observed an interview of Mamdough Ahmed Habib (#661) in which he repeatedly vomited during the course of a lengthy interrogation.146 She said she did not observe Habib receive any medical treatment, but that she heard that Habib was given Motrin to help alleviate his condition at some point during the interrogation. The agent reported that a Lieutenant Colonel who was a medical doctor was present at the time. The agent told the OIG that Habib's condition did not bother her at the time, but in retrospect she questioned whether the treatment of Habib was appropriate. However, she said she was certain that there was no plan or intention on the interrogators part to make Habib sick or take advantage of his condition.
Another FBI agent told the OIG that he interviewed a detainee at GTMO who complained that he needed to see a doctor about treatment for a wound he received in a shootout with the U.S. military in Afghanistan. The agent stated that the detainee did not appear to be in pain or distress at the time. The agent said that the guards told him that they were aware of the detainee's condition, and that military officials later told him that this detainee said that he needed to go to the base hospital every time he was interviewed.
Another agent told the OIG that one detainee at GTMO complained to her several times about what appeared to be a gastro-intestinal problem. The agent said she thought that the detainee in question should have been evaluated by military medical staff, and that she believed that the military was not taking this detainee's complaints seriously because he complained about many things. She said it took several complaints by her to the MPs before the detainee was evaluated, and that it turned out the detainee did have a real medical problem that required treatment. However, she stated that language barriers and limited availability of translators may have contributed to the delay in getting him treatment.
We found no evidence of any FBI agent who intentionally or otherwise delayed or denied a detainee's access to medical care. In fact, some agents told us that interceding on a detainee's behalf regarding a medical issue was extremely helpful in building rapport.
Notes
146. The agent said that she observed two interview sessions with Habib and that both lasted 15 hours with only a short break in between. She said that that she did not schedule these interviews but that FBI management at GTMO knew that she was participating and nobody ever told her not to be a part of it.
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