Fed: Habib's lawyer sacks psychiatrist for speaking out

AAP General News (Australia)
02-17-2005
Fed: Habib's lawyer sacks psychiatrist for speaking out

CANBERRA, Feb 17 AAP - A senior psychiatrist who examined Mamdouh Habib has been sacked
by the lawyer representing the former Guantanamo Bay detainee.

The psychiatrist was dismissed after he made his professional assessment public, saying
Mr Habib showed signs he had been tortured.

Sydney University professor of psychiatry Christopher Tennant said he was asked by
Mr Habib's lawyer Stephen Hopper to examine him for signs the former detainee was tortured.

"He has evidence of having been exposed to very significant and unpleasant events,
probably torture, in that he was significantly depressed and had post-traumatic stress
disorder," Prof Tennant told ABC radio today.

He also asked a colleague, a physician, to examine Mr Habib for physical indications of torture.

Prof Tennant said the doctor found traces of cigarette burns and old bruising on one thigh.

He said the federal government's rejection of the claim that Mr Habib had been tortured
prompted him to speak out, despite the apparent breach of patient confidentiality.

"In technical terms, yes I did (breach the confidentiality), but I did try to contact
Mr Hopper, and through him Mr Habib, and was unable to do so," Prof Tennant said.

"After considerable deliberation, I thought at this point in time Mr Habib's version
warranted at least some substantiation."

But Mr Hopper is furious with the disclosure.

"It's simply not his decision to make that call," Mr Hopper told the ABC.

"There are strategies put in place and things are very sensitive."

AAP dep/br

KEYWORD: HABIB PSYCHIATRIST

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