Gitmo Judge Hears Testimony About Torture Effects

FORT MEADE, Md. (AP) - A Guantanamo Bay judge is deciding whether to recommend special training about torture for a military mental health board that will examine the prisoner accused of orchestrating the attack on the USS Cole. The judge heard testimony Tuesday from Dr. Vincent Iacopino in a pretrial hearing in Cuba for Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri.

Iacopino wrote some international guidelines for examining torture victims. Defense attorneys say those procedures should apply because al-Nashiri was abused while being held by the CIA in a series of secret prisons. Prosecutors say that would expand the board's scope beyond simply determining whether al-Nashiri is fit to stand trial. The 2000 bombing in Yemen killed 17 crew members and wounded 37. The Associated Press watched the hearing via closed circuit at Fort Meade.