I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY A. Background -- Why This Report Was Prepared The International Convention Against Torture (CAT) was ratified by the United States Government in 1994, with the Government's initial report reviewing compliance with the Convention's provisions due to be submitted to the United Nations Committee Against Torture one year later. This report is now more than three years overdue. In its absence, our Coalition, made up of more than 60 contributing non-governmental organizations dealing with a broad cross section of issues and concerns related to torture and other forms of cruel and inhuman treatment or punishment, has decided to release its own evalua- tion of U.S. compliance under CAT. Our goals are to: - encourage the Government to fulfill its responsibilities on a more effective basis, both in terms of submitting the required compliance report, and eliminating the practices detailed below that violate internationally recognized human rights standards related to torture and, - promote a better understanding among government officials, the general public, and the non-governmental organization community of how inter- national human rights standards and enforcement mechanisms can be applied to domestic issues and needs. ...[snip] B. What Are The Major Areas of Non-Compliance? Torture, which is identfied by CAT as including all forms of government sponsored (by affirmative action or by acquiescence) cruel and inhuman treatment and punishment, or other forms of severe pain and suffering, both physical and psychological, currently is taking place in the United States in a number of important areas. 1. The Death Penalty ...[snip] 8. Abuse in Treatment of Those Considered Mentally Ill ...[snip] 9. Involuntary Human Scientific Experimentation Considerable evidence recently has surfaced that the U.S. government, in past years, has conducted a number of what have been classified as "scientific" experiments on human subjects without their knowledge or consent. This includes large-scale exposures to radiation emissions, and purposeful denial of available medical treatment to African- American syphilis victims, allegedly for medical testing. Recent media disclosures and admissions by government officials suggest that the scope of these "experiments" has been far wider than previously acknowledged. As was true for the human experimentation conducted by the Nazis in prison camps during World War II, the "so-called" scientific aspects of these tests do not eliminate the cruel and abusive elements that were involved. Nor do they justify the severe pain and suffering impost on individual test victims. Although the tests that have been publicly acknowledged took place some years ago, sufficient action has not been taken to compensate victims, and to assure that similar forms of abusive experimentation would be prevented in the future, especially in newly emerging areas of tech- nology and weapons development. REQUIRED ACTION - HUMAN SCIENTIFIC EXPERIMENTATION: Additional steps should be taken to ensure full disclosure and proper compensation for past involuntary scientific experimentation. Secret testing of technology and weapons on humans, especially without their fully informed knowledge and consent, should not be permitted, and adequate methods for assuring that such practices not take place should be developed. ...[snip] 10. INVOLUNTARY HUMAN SCIENTIFIC EXPERIMENTATION This section draws heavily on the 1995 submission to the Human Rights Committee by the Science and Human Rights program of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, included in "The Status of Human Rights in the United States" SUMMARY STATEMENT In past years, the U.S. has conducted a number of scientific experi- ments on human subjects without their consent or knowledge. This includes exposure to of at least 9,000 human subjects, including children and newborns, to radiation testing by the Atomic Energy Commission, and the Tuskeegee experiments in which African- American subjects were denied medical treatment for syphilis in order to document how this disease affected the human body. Although these cruel and inhuman tests were conducted many years ago, ther are two aspects that continue to be of concern. First is the fact that government kept information about the tests secret for a number of years, and continues to release data that suggests that testing of this type has been far more frequent, and with a greater impact, than initially acknowledged. Second is that appropriate action still has not been taken to compensate the victims, and to assure that similar activities will not take place in the future. I. RELEVANT CONVENTION PROVISIONS (CAT) The prohibition against torture in Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights stipulates that "no one shall be subject, without his free consent, to medical or scientific experimentation." This provision is not included in CAT, which focusses in Article 1 on pain inflicted for punishment or intimidation, or for any reason based on discrimination. Howver, it was the overwhelming consensus of our working group that human scientific experimentation conducted by government without the knowledgeable consent of victims constitutes, by its very nature, a type of punishment that fits within the CAT definition as constituting "severe pain and suffering" as described by CAT. There is no question that the human experiments conducted by the Nazis during World War II constituted torture, despite their alleged scien- tific purposes, because the dangers and inhumanity victims were subjected to evidenced an essential lack of concern for the well-being of the subjects that resulted in the unnecessary inflicition of pain and suffering. Simliar experiments that constitute punishment under the meaning of the CAT definition are present whenever human beings are unknowingly subjected to scientific tests, especially when they involve potential severe or long-lasting health consequences, or the purposeful denial of appropriate medical care. this type of disdain for human subjects can not be viewed as anything other than the purposeful infliction of punishment, even if legitimate scientific goals are involved, and the intent to do harm may not be present. It is the lack of due care for the severe (though unexpected) conse- quences that produces the pain and suffering of the type prohibited by CAT. This is the reason why the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights makes special mention of human scientific experimentation under its treatment of torture, and justifies its inclusion among the activities subject to review under Article 1 of CAT. II. NON-CONSENTUAL HUMAN TESTING BY THE U.S. GOVERNMENT The 1995 "Initial Report of the United States" to the United Nations Human Rights Committee acknowledges that a number of Cold War era experiments involving the exposure of humans to radiation were conducted that would be in violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ("Covenant"). It does not, however, discuss in any detail: - the nature of these experiments - the manner in which they were conducted (particularly pertinent is how the issue of consent was treated) - whether steps have been taken to remedy the results of inappro- priate testing through appropriate compensation of victims, and, - whether any steps have been taken to ensure that such experimentation does not take place in the future In early 1994, in response to public pressure generated by reports appearing in "The Albuquerque Tribune", and a report issued by the U.S. General Accounting Office confirming that the U.S. government had sponsored Cold War experiments involving the exposure of human subjects to large doses of radiation, the Clinton Administration created an Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments. The Advisory Committee was charged with investigating these experiments and determining how scientific and ethical standards were observee in these activities, and was given access to the records of all relevant federal agencies. The Advisory Committee's research acknowledges that government sponsored experiments involving the exposure of human subjects to potentially dangerous levels of radiation were far more common than had been believed. Between 1948 and 1952, they included at least 13 deliberate releases of radiated materials into the atmosphere near populated areas to study fallout patterns and the rate of radioactive decay of atmos- pherically released particles. Initial reports also indicate that, while high level officials were aware of the dangers and the ethical considerations involved, there was a consistent lack of effective regulation governing administration of the tests. Based on the Advisory Committee's research, six broad categories of experiments can be identified: - Experiments aimed at determining the dnager to workers assembling nuclear weapons from ingestion, inhalation, or injection of irradiated materials. These experiments involved total body irradiation and the injection of radioactive isotopes into human subjects. - Experiments aimed at determining the effects of exposure to radiation on soldiers serving either as part of the crew of a proposed nuclear powered aircraft, or on a nuclear battlefield. These experiments involved total body radiation, injection of radioactive isotopes, ingestion of irradiated materials by human subjects and exposure of subjects to atomic clouds during and after bomb detonations. - Development of nuclear weapons. These experiments involved atmospheric releases of radiation without the knowledge of exposed civilian population. - Studies on the dispersal, fallout, biological intake and decay of radioactive materials following a nuclear explosion. These experiments involved atmospheric releases of radiation, ingestion of radioactive and exposure to atomic clouds. etc. etc. ...[snip] Similar concerns also are being rasied about involuntary human experimentation involving new forms of classified research and testing of high technology military weaponry, including microwave and laser equipiment. Groups working on these issues cite, among other evidence of the existence of these unauthorized testing procedures, a White House inter-governmental memorandum dated March 27, 1997, establishing stronger guidelines prohibiting non-consentual testing for classified research, but suggesting, by implication, that this type of human research may, in fact, be taking place. Because of the classified nature of these activities, it is very difficult to confirm or disprove that they are taking place. Given the serious negative impacts on non-consentual human subjects that classified research of this type is capable of producing, and given the past history of secret experimentation by the government, these allegations of continuing improprieties involving secret government-sponsored human testing should not be dismissed without more thorough, impartial investigation.