Vincent Iacopino

Vincent Iacopino
Nationality	USA
Occupation	medical doctor
Known for	an expert on recognizing and treating the after-effects of torture

Vincent Iacopino is an American doctor, who has specialized in the after-effects of torture.^[1] He is the author or co-author of several books on torture, or that address topics related to torture. He came up with the idea of the Istanbul Protocol.^{[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]}

In 2001 Iacopino wrote a manual on recognizing and treating torture victims for the United Nations.^[10]

Iacopino published a paper entitled “Neglect of Medical Evidence of Torture in Guantánamo Bay: A Case Series” in April 2011.^[11]

On February 5, 2013, Iacopino testified, by video link, at the Guantanamo Military Commission in the case of Abd al Rahim al Nashiri who is accused of involvement in the USS Cole bombing. Iacopino was asked on how to conduct a no-harm medical examination on Nashiri who was subject of what is described as a mock execution and who was waterboarded by the CIA twice.^[1][12] On February 7, in response to a Prosecution request James Pohl, the Presiding Officer of al Nashiri's Military Commission ordered that a panel of mental health experts examine Al Nashiri. The Defense, in turn, argued that panel should take advice from Iacopino, on how to interview Al Nashiri without causing additional damage.^[13]

On March 28, 2016, Spencer Ackerman, writing in The Guardian, broke an account of how, although the CIA had illegally destroyed its extensive library of video tapes documenting the torture of the men and boys it had apprehended through its covert "snatch teams", it still retained humiliating naked photos of bruised and beaten captives that observers described as "gruesome".^{[14][15][16][17]} Iacopino was widely cited as an expert on torture who stated that humiliating captives by taking photos of them, while naked, was a form of sexual humiliation which could be considered a form of torture.^{[18][19][20][21][22][23][24]} According to Camila Vargax of Latercera, Iacopino called for an investigation, from international authorities, to determine whether the photos were a war crime.^[25]

References

1. Carol Rosenberg (2013-02-05). "Torture expert testifies at Guantánamo in USS Cole case". Miami Herald. Archived from the original on 2013-02-06. A doctor with expertise in torture testified remotely before the war court Tuesday, advising the chief judge how to conduct a no-harm medical examination on an alleged al-Qaida deputy who was waterboarded by the CIA.
2. Sidney Jones, Patricia Gossman, Vincent Iacopino (1993). "The Crackdown in Kashmir: Torture of Detainees and Assaults on the Medical Community". Human Rights Watch. ISBN 9781879707139. Retrieved 2013-02-06.
3. Michael Peel, Vincent Iacopino (2002). "The Medical Documentation Of Torture". Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781841100685. Retrieved 2013-02-06.
4. Vincent Iacopino. "Assisting Survivors of Torture: Medical Documentation for Political Asylum". Survivors International of Southern California. Retrieved 2013-02-06.
5. Vincent Iacopino, Erik Holst. "Preventing Torture and Treating Survivors: A Challenge to Health Professionals". Physicians for Human Rights. Retrieved 2013-02-06.
6. Vincent Iacopino (1998). "The Taliban's war on women: a health and human rights crisis in Afghanistan". Physicians for Human Rights. ISBN 9781879707252. Retrieved 2013-02-06.
7. Vincent Iacopino (1999). "War crimes in Kosovo: a population-based assessment of human rights violations against Kosovar Albanians". Physicians for Human Rights. ISBN 9781879707269. Retrieved 2013-02-06.
8. Vincent Iacopino, Sidney Jones (1992). ""Bloody May": Excessive Use of Lethal Force in Bangkok : the Events of May 17-20, 1992". Physicians for Human Rights. ISBN 9781879707115. Retrieved 2013-02-06.
9. Vincent Iacopino (1991). "Unceasing Abuses: Human Rights in Mexico One Year After the Introduction of Reform". Human Rights Watch. ISBN 9781564320407. Retrieved 2013-02-06.
10. Kevin B. O'Reilly (2011-05-13). "Doctors failed to inquire about Gitmo detainees' injuries, study alleges: Medical professionals treating them did not follow up on evidence of torture, a case review says.". American Medical News. Archived from the original on 2013-02-06. "Clearly, there was a practice of avoiding any cause of a symptom or injury that inferred the possibility of intentional harm," said Vincent Iacopino, MD, PhD, lead author of the study and co-author of the U.N.'s 2001 manual on investigating and documenting torture.
11. Andy Worthington (2011-04-30). "Study Says Doctors At Guantánamo Neglected Or Concealed Evidence of Torture, Plus My Interview With Press TV – OpEd". Eurasia Review. Archived from the original on 2013-02-06. Retrieved 2013-02-06. Just as WikiLeaks is revealing details of the regime of torture, coercion and bribery that was required to create what purported to be evidence at Guantánamo, the peer-reviewed journal journal PloS Medicine published a research article, “Neglect of Medical Evidence of Torture in Guantánamo Bay: A Case Series,” written by Vincent Iacopino, a senior medical advisor to Physicians for Human Rights, and Stephen Xenakis, a retired US Army Brigadier General, examining the cases of nine former prisoners, “all of whom,” as they say, “alleged torture and ill treatment during detention at the facility.”
12. Peter Beaumont (2009-08-22). "Bombshell report on CIA interrogations is leaked: Findings suppressed since 2006 detail death threats against prisoners and other methods that may constitute torture". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2013-02-09. CIA interrogators threatened a captured al-Qaida leader with a power drill and a pistol in what was described as a mock execution, according to a long-suppressed report due to be released on Monday.
13. Donna Miles (2013-02-07). "Mental Health Test Delays Cole Bombing Suspect Hearings". American Forces Press Service. Archived from the original on 2013-02-09. Members of the defense questioned what such an assessment would provide, telling the commission judge, Army Col. James L. Pohl, they lack faith in any medical practitioner the convening authority might appoint to conduct it. Pohl authorized the exam, but granted the defense’s request that Dr. Vincent Iacopino, a member of the Physicians for Human Rights organization with expertise in torture, be called on to provide advice on how to conduct it without “doing harm.”
14. Spencer Ackerman (2016-03-28). "CIA photographed detainees naked before sending them to be tortured". The Guardian. Retrieved 2016-03-30. Iacopino has not seen the nude photographs but raised grave concerns. “It’s cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment at a minimum and may constitute torture,” he said.
15. Andrew Blake (2016-03-28). "CIA reportedly used nude photos to sexually humiliate terror suspects". Washington Times. Retrieved 2016-03-30. One former U.S. official familiar with the photographs described them to The Guardian as “very gruesome,” and others went as far as to suggest the practice of photographing naked detainees may constitute a violation of international law.
16. "CIA took naked photos of detainees before sending them for torture: Report". Press TV. 2016-03-29. Retrieved 2016-03-30. Also, a medical and human rights expert called the practice “sexual humiliation,” while some other human rights campaigners regard it as a potential war crime.
17. Trace William Cowen (2016-03-28). "CIA Reportedly Took "Gruesome" Nude Photos of Detainees Before They Were Tortured". Complex (magazine). Retrieved 2016-03-30.
18. "Çıplak fotoğraf işkencesi" [Nude photos of torture] (in Turkish). Cum Huriyet. 2016-03-29. Retrieved 2016-03-30. İnsan Hakları İçin Doktorlar örgütünden Dr. Vincent Iacopino, fotoğrafları cinsel saldırı olarak nitelendirdi.
19. "TORTURA: CIA fotografou prisioneiros nus antes de os extraditar" [TORTURE: CIA photographed naked prisoners before the extraditing] (in Spanish). Observador. 2016-03-29. Retrieved 2016-03-30. O diretor da Médicos pelos Direitos Humanos, Vincent Iacopino, afirmou que tirar fotografias a prisioneiros nus é uma forma de humilhação sexual, dizendo ainda que é “Cruel, desumano e degradante”, classificando a prática como uma forma de tortura.
20. "'CIA nam naaktfoto's voor uitlevering gevangenen'" (in Dutch). AD.nl. 2016-03-28. Retrieved 2016-03-30. Mensenrechtenorganisaties spreken van het ,,seksueel vernederen van gevangenen. ,,Het is op zijn minst een wrede, onmenselijke en vernederende behandeling en komt mogelijk neer op marteling, zei dokter Vincent Iacopino van mensenrechtenorganisatie Artsen voor Mensenrechten tegen The Guardian.
21. "'CIA fotografeerde gevangenen naakt voor uitlevering'" [CIA photographed naked prisoners for rendition] (in Dutch). RTL Nieuws. Retrieved 2016-03-30. Het is op zijn minst een wrede, onmenselijke en vernederende behandeling en komt mogelijk neer op marteling, zei dokter Vincent Iacopino van mensenrechtenorganisatie Artsen voor Mensenrechten tegen de Britse krant.
22. "CIA给女囚拍裸照，酷刑折磨令人瞠目" [CIA nude photos for women prisoners, torture staggering] (in Chinese). I ask. 2016-03-29. Retrieved 2016-03-30. 人权组织高级医疗顾问医生阿科皮诺(Vincent Iacopino)说：“拍摄裸照是性侮辱吗?当然是。”
23. "Detainees sent abroad for torture photographed nude by CIA: Pictures could raise questions about the United States' possible use of "sexual humiliations" of suspects". i24 news. 2016-03-28. Retrieved 2016-03-30.
24. Charles P. Pierce (2016-03-29). "American Torture Is Back, and More Inexcusable Than Ever". Esquire magazine. Retrieved 2016-03-30.
25. Camila Vargas (2016-03-28). "Revelan que la CIA fotografiaba a sospechosos de terrorismo desnudos antes de interrogatorios" [They reveal that the CIA photographed naked terrorism suspects before interrogation] (in Spanish). Latercera. Retrieved 2016-03-30. Además, Iacopino agregó que "cualquier prueba de que la CIA o cualquier otra agencia gubernamental estadounidense haya fotografiado intencionalmente a los detenidos desnudos, debería ser investigada por las autoridades como una posible violación de las leyes nacionales e internacionales".