Defense Lawyers Get Access To Secret Guantanamo Camp

Attorneys for the detainees at Camp 7 are prevented by a court order from discussing their clients' medical conditions or records. But there have been some indications that detainees are experiencing mental and physical health problems.

One high-value detainee, Majid Khan, a former Baltimore resident alleged to have planned to blow up gas stations in the United States, told a military panel that he tried to kill himself by biting on one his arteries. And in a memo filed in U.S. District Court this month, Joseph Margulies, an attorney for Zayn al-Abidin Muhammed Hussein, better known by the nom de guerre Abu Zubaida, said that during a visit with his client in Guantanamo in September "I felt I was talking to an elderly infirm patient whose mind was beginning to fail him."

U.S. officials have acknowledged that Abu Zubaida, 37, was subjected to waterboarding and other coercive interrogation techniques while in CIA custody.

In a separate filing in a habeas corpus proceeding, Abu Zubaida's attorneys said their client has had 116 seizures since his transfer to Guantanamo. According to court papers, Abu Zubaida also told Margulies that he was injected with Haldol, normally used to treat psychosis. The use of the drug in correctional settings is controversial because of its strong side effects and the history of its use in the Soviet Union to control dissidents sent to psychiatric hospitals.

Abu Zubaida's attorneys said "the difference in his demeanor was striking" compared with previous visits.

According to court papers, Abu Zubaida once asked for copies of James Joyce's novels "Ulysses" and "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man." One of his attorneys, Brent Mickum, said he was able to provide him with a copy of "Ulysses" translated into Arabic.

Staff researcher Julie Tate contributed to this report.