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are heavily redacted and may be incomplete.50 Based on the documents that are available, however, it is clear that detainees have been given a high dose of this powerful anti-malarial drug that potentially causes severe neuropsychological side effects. Since the dosage far exceeds the recommended dose for prophylactic purposes, the only medical justification would be particularized reason to believe the detainees were suffering from malaria. Further, while at least some detainees were tested for malaria, the mefloquine was seemingly administered in advance of and without regard to the results of the test. In any event, there does not appear to have been any individualized assessment of medical and psychological history prior to mefloquine administration for the purpose of avoiding administration to detainees with contraindications to mefloquine, which would render the administration of the drug inappropriate even if malaria infection were confirmed.

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B. The Standard In-processing Orders Form

Mefloquine was given to each detainee as a matter of standard procedure without waiting for the results of any test for malaria. This is further made clear by an examination of the “Standard In-processing Orders” form, presumably applied uniformly for all detainees.64 The form includes administration of mefloquine at the 1250 mg dosage, split into two distributions: “750 mg PO [taken orally] now, 500 mg PO in 12 hours.”65

The form is structured as a checklist, with numbered items circled as they were completed. The first item on the list is “1. Mefloquine,” followed by the dosage.66 On both ISN 693’s form and ISN 760’s form, number “1.” is circled, indicating the mefloquine dose was administered.67

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C. No Malaria In Cuba

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there is no malaria in Cuba.90 “Malaria is not a threat in Guantanamo Bay,” according to an official memorandum on the “Department of Defense Operational Use of Mefloquine.”91 U.S. military personnel and contractors are not prescribed any anti-malarial medication for assignment to GTMO.92

57 & 58 & 59

ENHANCED INTERROGATION

The Paper Trail on the CIA’s Destruction of 92 Torture Videos

On April 15, 2010, a FOIA lawsuit filed by the ACLU managed to pry out of the CIA a series of documents related to the destruction of ninety-two videos of “enhanced interrogation” of al Qaeda detainees, in particular Abu Zabaydah, who’d been transferred to a “black prison” in Thailand in 2002. He ended up being waterboarded eighty-three times in a month, deprived of sleep for days on end, subjected to extreme cold while being held naked in his cell, and forced to listen to near-deafening levels of music.

What you’re about to read is an inside look at how and why the CIA decided that these videos had to be wiped out—even though the many redactions made by the Agency make you wonder what else is being covered up. The first memo is from October 2002, when the CIA began discussing the sensitivity of these “interrogation sessions.” The next document describes the destruction of the ninety-two video tapes that took place on November 9, 2005.

The next day, two emails were sent to CIA Executive Director Dusty Foggo by someone who’s never been identified. (Foggo later got convicted of bribery in the scandal involving California Congressman Duke Cunningham). The emails show, among other things, that the CIA interrogator was the very one who wanted the tapes destroyed.

All this is pretty self-explanatory. Clearly they could never allow the American people to see what they’re doing to these detainees so you destroy the evidence. But what looms even larger is that there was evidence, and of such a nature that required it to be destroyed. That tells you how bad it must have been.

The destruction of the tapes was approved by Jose Rodriguez Jr., who headed up Clandestine Services for the CIA. In November 2010, federal prosecutor John Durham announced he was not going to charge Rodriguez for authorizing the videotapes’ disappearance. Rodriguez’ attorney called