Protecting the Right to Medical Treatment from the War on Terror The Status of Guantanamo Bay Detainees

摘要

Envision a member of the terrorist organization al-Qaeda undergoing surgery to remove a cancerous tumor. This life-saving surgery is not being performed in an unsanitary and ill-equipped "spider-hole," cave, or terrorist training camp in the desert. Instead, the operation is being performed by an active-duty United States Navy medical officer stationed at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Depending on the complexity of the medical treatment, most enemy combatants being held at Guantanamo Bay receive medical care unavailable in their home country. This fact is cited often by the Department of Defense in response to criticism of the medical treatment detainees receive at Guantanamo Bay.