‘Covert sonic weapon’ suspected in Havana
2 envoys suffer unexplained symptoms; U.S. expels 2 Cuban diplomats
The U.S. government is investigating whether American diplomats serving in Cuba were victims of an attack that damaged their hearing and caused other physical symptoms, officials said Thursday.
The Associated Press reported that officials had concluded that the Americans were targeted by a “covert sonic weapon.” The AP described the device as something that could not be heard by the victims.
A U.S. official confirmed that the diplomats suffered hearing damage and neurological symptoms that remain unexplained.
The official did not identify a covert weapon as the suspected cause but said FBI and State Department investigations are looking at the incidents as an attack.
Another official said the incidents occurred at diplomats’ homes. U.S. diplomats in Cuba live in compounds owned by the Cuban government.
The State Department had said Wednesday that two Cuban diplomats were expelled from the United States in response to unexplained physical symptoms suffered by Americans stationed in Havana but declined to specify what kind of ailments were reported.
Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert would not confirm that the symptoms included hearing loss or damage or that a weapon may have been used.
“We will not confirm the health status of any Americans,” she said Thursday.
Cuba failed in its obligation under the Vienna Convention to keep foreign diplomats safe, and the U.S. order to expel two Cubans was in response to that, she said. She would not directly blame Cuba for causing harm to the Americans.
“We consider these to be incidents because we are still trying to determine the actual cause of their situation. They have had a variety of physical symptoms, and that’s as far as I can go,” Nauert said.
However, Seth Horowitz, a former professor of neuroscience at Brown University, said that “there are no acoustic devices that can cause sudden onset hearing loss that the people involved could not hear,” and he expressed skepticism about the State Department’s claims.
“It’s tragic,” he said of the reports, “but it can happen from viruses, genetic predisposition, an accident, exposure to urban noise.”