CAIRO, January 6 (IslamOnline.net) – US Army physicians helped intelligence officers carry out abuses at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and in Guantanamo, a reputable weekly medical journal said on Thursday, January 6.

The New England Journal of Medicine said medical workers gave interrogators access to patient medical files, assisted in the design of interrogation strategies, including sleep deprivation, and coached interrogators on questioning technique.

Labeled “perspective”, the article was based on interviews with more than two dozen military personnel as well as on documents released to the American Civil Liberties Union under the Freedom of Information Act.

“Clearly, the medical personnel who helped to develop and execute aggressive counter-resistance plans thereby breached the laws of war,” said the four-page article.

The report adds to concerns expressed by respected medical institutions, said Arthur L. Caplan, director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania.

“The New England Journal of Medicine plays a unique role in serving as a moral beacon for the health profession; when they take it on, it's important,” he was quoted as saying by the Washington Post.