Guatemala calls US tests 'crime'

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President Alvaro Colom: '' I was upset and very angry''

US testing that infected hundreds of Guatemalans with gonorrhoea and syphilis more than 60 years ago was a "crime against humanity", Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom has said.

President Barack Obama has apologised for the medical tests, in which mentally ill patients and prisoners were infected without their consent.

Mr Obama told Mr Colom the 1940s-era experiments ran contrary to American values, Guatemala said.

The US has promised an investigation.

Continue reading the main story“Start QuoteWe deeply regret that it happened, and we apologise to all the individuals who were affected by such abhorrent research practices”

End QuoteStatement from US secretaries of state and health'Shocking, tragic, reprehensible' Syphilis can cause heart problems, blindness, mental illness and even death, and although the patients were treated it is not known how many recovered.

Evidence of the programme was unearthed by Prof Susan Reverby at Wellesley College. She says the Guatemalan government gave permission for the tests.

No offer of compensation has yet been made, but an investigation will be launched into the specifics of the study, which took place between 1946 and 1948.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said on Friday the news was "shocking, it's tragic, it's reprehensible".

In an interview with the BBC, Mr Colom said the test subjects were "victims of rights abuses".