Victims of sonic attacks in Cuba included children of diplomats.

Family members of embassy staff in Havana

OTTAWA • Children were among those affected by a series of mysterious and still-unexplained attacks on the health of Canadian and American diplomats in Cuba last year, documents from the Canadian government have revealed.

Correspondence from diplomats in Havana, apparently detailed but heavily redacted when obtained by the National Post under access-to-information law, show officials at Global Affairs Canada learned as early as April that Canadian embassy staffers and their families in Cuba were reporting mysterious health problems.

In May, they scrambled to determine whether the severe symptoms they were reporting — including, the documents say, the loss of memory, hearing and even consciousness — could be psychosomatic. But it appears to have taken weeks before Canadian doctors officially examined those affected.

August saw the first media reports about the alleged attacks. The Associated Press reported that American diplomats in Havana had heard loud, jarring noises that seemed to be audible only in specific rooms or even in very specific parts of rooms, mostly in their homes and at night.

They then began suffering hearing loss and other physical symptoms. After those reports, the U.S. confirmed to media that 24 of its own had been affected. In September, AP reported that about 10 Canadian families had been affected and that both countries had deployed criminal investigators.

It is still unknown who perpetrated the alleged attacks, why, or even how. Though media reports initially described the incidents as sonic attacks, AP reported in December that doctors had found that whatever had harmed the Americans had led to physical changes to the white matter in their brains, contributing to the theory that the noises were a side-effect of whatever was used to harm them.

Months earlier, officials in Ottawa had first been made aware of U.S. allegations. A late April email to officials in Ottawa is fully redacted but titled “Attacks on US Personnel.”

About two weeks later, on May 11, the Canadian mission in Havana sent Global Affairs Canada colleagues a formal request for assistance in “determining next steps” for Canadians experiencing symptoms.

A message to Ottawa May 16, approved by Canada’s ambassador to Cuba, detailed a concern that whatever Canadians were experiencing might be psychosomatic.

“Many of the symptoms are similar to signs of extreme stress, and there is the possibility that there could be mental health effects caused by the fear of being targeted,” the email says. “Either way, testing should help to rule out cases and reassure personnel that we have the means to be able to provide duty of care.”

Still, it appears to have taken weeks before Canada’s government dispatched medical personnel to assess the Canadians’ symptoms.

On June 6 the mission was urgently requesting that a ministerial letter be sent to the national defence department, so as to get Canadian military doctors on the ground.

An attached report included a request for clarification on the ages of children involved, though according to prepared media lines from August, Canadian officials were instructed not to reveal to the public whether any children had been affected.

The report also detailed symptoms Canadians were experiencing: “headaches, dizziness, nausea, hearing loss, nosebleeds, cognitive functions including loss of short term memory.” It predicted “follow-up treatment, care and rehabilitation may be required,” and listed “begin preparing for any more wide-ranging plans to evacuate Canadian staff and/ or their dependants” as a next step.

In a June 8 report, the list of symptoms expanded to include loss of consciousness, blurred eyesight, lack of balance and ear pain.

“Many have heard strange noises in their residences and have experienced symptoms that they have not had before in their lives,” it said.

On June 9, the head of mission was requesting a medical adviser come to Havana “as soon as possible” to screen all families of all Canadian diplomats there.

A few days later, emails show local guards posted at Canadian residences 24/7 had been “put on notice to increase their patrols around the properties and to be extra vigilant in reporting any (unusual) vehicles or activity.”

The Health Canada doctor arrived June 18 and held a town hall with Canadian staff on June 21, during which he emphasized “symptoms and findings are similar to the U.S.’s experience.”

By August it appeared the situation was not yet resolved. A Health Canada medical adviser suggested in an Aug. 11 email that “routine audiometry,” which measures individuals’ hearing sensitivity, could be conducted as a baseline for Canada-based staff headed on posting to Havana.

The Associated Press reported in late October that a Cuban television special questioned whether the attacks actually occurred. Creators of the special interviewed neighbours of U.S. diplomats, the report says, who didn’t experience symptoms. And officials from the Cuban interior ministry are quoted as saying sounds recorded by U.S. investigators are similar to the sounds crickets and cicadas make.