Dear Colleagues,
There are a lot of these editorials floating about and some are higher
quality than others. This one isn't particularly effective as it
contains a fair amount of misinformation. It appears that the authors
based their editorials on editorials written by others who got their
information third-hand. Even basic info such as the number of
individuals on the Task Force is in error and APA has unequivocally
condemned torture. The 2006 APA Resolution Against Torture and Other
Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment can be found at the
http://www.peacepsych.org website. Just scroll down the right hand side
of the page for the section concerning torture.
Having said that, I do not think APA has responded effectively to this
issue nor do I believe that the composition of the PENS (Psychological
Ethics and National Security) Task Force was appropriate. The
biographies of the task force members can be found at
http://www.webster.edu/peacepsychology/tfpens.html . I personally think
that the PENS report is flawed and the normal process for codification
of APA policy was subverted (it did not go to Council for a full review).
Note that you may often read that the names of the PENS task force
information was kept secret until recently. This is inaccurate as these
biographies were placed by Division 48 (Society for the Study of Peace,
Conflict, and Violence) shortly after the Task Force was convened.
Leaders with the Society expressed serious concerns about the
composition of the task force immediately after the information became
available.
There is a push for a moratorium on psychologist involvement in
interrogations at sites such as Guantanamo Bay. The Society's call for a
moratorium with the rationale can be found at
http://www.webster.edu/peacepsychology/2007Moratorium/MoratoriumStatement07.html.
If you have difficulty with the long URL, just go to
http://www.peacepsych.org and scroll down the page as described above.
Have there been psychologists who crossed the line in state-sanctioned
violence? I think most likely "yes" but note that "the line" keeps
moving on this issue. A recent blog outlines actions of some individuals
that may have crossed the line. This information can be found at
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/7/6/18327/45355 . Be aware that some
of the sources of information are news articles that may or may not have
accurate information. This is very difficult to investigate and report
due to the closed nature of military information. Also, note that these
individuals may or may not be members of APA. The two Seattle-based
psychologists recently named are not members of APA. There is also a
website concerning medical participation in torture and cruel, inhuman,
or degrading treatment at
http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/OathBetrayed/index.html . This resource
has been put together by the University of Minnesota's well-respected
Human Rights Library.
Individuals may also want to review the Open Letter to Dr. Sharon Brehm,
President of the APA http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/BrehmLetter/ and
the Department of Defense Report - Review of DoD-Directed Investigations
of Detainee Abuse http://www.fas.org/irp/agency/dod/abuse.pdf .
My position is that psychologists should not be involved in
interrogations at sites for foreign detainees identified under the
Military Commission Act as "enemy combatants." These sites are
inherently "cruel, inhuman, or degrading" as defined under Fifth,
Eighth, and/or Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United
States and as defined under the U.S. Reservations and Declarations to
the United Nations Convention Against Torture. Therefore, regardless of
psychologists' role in interrogations (e.g., they are behaving in the
most humane manner possible), they are working in situations of
state-sponsored abuse and are under the employ of the state. This
concern applies not only to psychologists but other professionals
including medical professionals.
For those attending the APA convention, there is are a number of venues
that folks may want to explore.
First, there are many programs within the Convention programming dealing
with this issue within Divisions. Just go to the Convention website
(http://forms.apa.org/convention/) and the online programming tool and
you can search programs and presentations by keywords.
Second, there is a protest rally being held and sponsored by
Psychologists for an Ethical APA (http://ethicalapa.com/). Saturday 12
Noon - 1.30pm , Plaza on Howard Street just west of 3rd Street
Third, there is an APA sponsored "mini-convention" on ethics and
interrogations. APA funded the organizing of this programming. Note
that the individuals involved include a range of individuals from those
involved in the protest rally mentioned above to the Divisions for
Social Justice to the military. I've pasted the program below.
If anyone has any additional questions, feel free to contact me at
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
To Peace,
Linda
Ethics and Interrogations: Confronting the Challenge
Session 1: What are Psychologists doing in U.S. Military Detention Centers?
[Chair: W. Steven Sellman, PhD; Friday 8-9:50am, Moscone Center room 3016]
Presenters:
1) Uwe Jacobs, PhD
2) Steve Kleinman, MS
3) Tony Lagouranis
4) Steven Reisner, PhD
5) Morgan Sammons, PhD
6) "Katherine Sherwood" PhD (Department of Defense)
Session 1 will address the roles that psychologists have been involved
in at the detention centers including their roles on BSCTs (Behavioral
Science Consultation Teams), how SERE is related to the work of BSCTs,
and the rules that govern DOD and non DOD personnel (contractors, the
CIA, the FBI).
Session 2: What Does the Research on Interrogations Tell Us?
[Chair: Bradley D. Olson, PhD; Friday 10-11:50am, Moscone Center room 3016]
Presenters:
1) Mark Constanzo, PhD
2) Charles A. Morgan, III, MD
3) Shara Sand, PhD
4) Phil Zimbardo, PhD
Sessions 2 will discuss empirical findings on the research of
interrogation, the work of the Intelligence Science Board, and the
ethical implications of this work and its relevance to practice and
consultation in U.S. military detention centers.
Session 3: What is the Evolution of APA policy on Ethics and Interrogation?
[Chair: Bernice Lott, PhD; Friday 2-3:50pm, Moscone Center room 3014]
Presenters
1) Neil E. Altman, PhD
2) Jean Maria Arrigo, PhD
3) Steve Breckler, PhD
4) Olivia Moorehead-Slaughter, PhD
5) Corann Okoradudu, PhD
6) Judith Van Hoorn, PhD
7) Linda Woolf, PhD
Session 3 will discuss APA policy, it's relation to other evolving
association positions, APA's relationship with the federal government
and most notably the PENS task force report and process, the 2006
resolution against torture, and the APA Moratorium, to be voted on in
August.
Session 4: How do Human Rights and Laws Apply to Detention Centers?
[Co-Chairs: Neil E. Altman, PhD and Linda Woolf, PhD; Saturday 2-3:50pm,
Moscone Center room 3014]
Presenters:
1) Jim McGarrah
2) Mike Gelles, PsyD
3) Bradley D. Olson, PhD
4) Susan Opotow, PhD
5) Len Rubenstein, JD
Session 4 will discuss psychology in relation to internatioanl law,
declarations and conventions including history and descriptions of these
documents and guidelines and how it related to definitions of detainees
as "enemy combatants". The role of the APA as a UN NGO and as a private
nonprofit US association, and generally the implications of domestic and
international laws and human rights for psychologists.
Session 5: What are the Impacts of Ethnicity, Language, and Identity on
Interrogations?
[Chair: Rhoda Unger, PhD; Sunday 12-1:50pm, Moscone Center room 3014]
Presenters:
1) Max Gross, PhD
2) Herb Kelman, PhD
3) Eileen Zubriggen, PhD
4) Michael G. Wessells, PhD
Session 5 will talk about the role and impact of culture, race,
language, ethnicity, religion and gender in the issues surrounding the
identity of detainees and its implications to interrogations and
psychology in general.
Session 6: What are the Effects of Psychological Torture and Abuse?
[Chair: Linda Woolf. PhD; Sunday 2-3:50pm, Moscone Center room 3014]
Presenters:
1) Glislaine Boulanger, PhD
2) Robert A. Geffner, PhD
3) Jeff Kaye, PhD
4) Brinton Lykes, PhD
5) Rosa Garcia-Peltoniemi, PhD
6) Morgan Sammons, PhD
7) Nina K. Thomas, PhD
Session 6 will focus on definitional issues in psychological torture,
meaning and significance of contextual issues, effects of psychological
torture and abuse on victim and perpetrator, and effects of torture and
abuse on broader community.
Town Hall Meeting: Review and Future Directions
[Chairs: Douglas Haldeman, PhD and Olivia Moorehead-Slaughter, PhD;
Sunday 5-6:50pm, Hilton Hotel, Plaza Room A]
Session 7: What Ethical Dilemmas do Psychologists Working in Detention
Centers Face?
[Chair: Scott W. Allen, PhD; Monday 10-11:50am, Moscone Center room 3009]
Presenters:
1) Michael G. Gelles, PsyD
2) Craig Haney, PhD
3) Robert T. Kinscherff, PhD, Esq
4) Stephen M. Soldz, PhD
Session 7 will focus on the ethical dilemmas of providing treatment to
individuals in detention centers, different roles that psychologists
take and their ethical implications. Presenters will address the
principle of "Do Good and Do No Harm" and how it applies to psychologit
involvement in interrogations. The session will cover conflicts between
ethics and law, regulations, and orders. Moreover, it will address the
process of assessing and responding to abusive treatment and/or
unethical behavior.
Session 8: What challenges and complexities does providing treatment to
detainees entail?
[Chair: Ibrahim Kira, PhD; Monday 12-1:50pm, Moscone Center room 3009]
Presenters:
1) Martha Davis, PhD
2) Carrie Kennedy, PhD
3) Frank Summers, PhD
4) Ed Tejirian, PhD
Session 8 will take on the challenges and complexities related to
providers and treatment for mental health probelesm in these detention
settings. It will talk about what is known regarding the process of
providing mental health care to detainees, what services they provide,
case presentation, and what "mental health" means in extreme circumstances.
Christopher D. Green wrote:
Apparently the APA's latest round of public relations with respect to
the psychology-and-torture issue is not having the intended effect.
(Thanks to Fred Weizmann for bringing this editorial to my attention.)
Chris Green
York U.
Toronto
===============
[begin *Charleston Gazette* Editorial]
Shamefully, some American psychologists participated in interrogating and
abusing Muslim prisoners at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba and at Abu Ghraib and
other prisons in Iraq.
This disturbing news is contained in a newly declassified report by the
Defense Department's Office of Inspector General.
Titled "Review of DOD-Directed Investigations of Detainee Abuse," the report
-- requested by 110 members of Congress -- documents the central role U.S.
psychologists played in developing "the abusive interrogation paradigm" at
Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib and other prisons.
Many current interrogation techniques were developed through the military's
"Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape" program, or SERE, which was
created to help U.S. soldiers resist interrogation if they are captured in
combat situations. Then SERE techniques were also used to break down Muslim
detainees, after former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld approved the plan
in late 2002.
During certain types of SERE questioning -- such as "waterboarding," in
which water is continuously poured over the face of a detainee strapped to a
board -- a psychologist must be present, military rules say.
SERE interrogation techniques also include extreme isolation, prolonged
sleep deprivation, "noise stress," abuse by dogs, as well as sexual and
cultural humiliation.
Washington-based Physicians for Human Rights wants Congress to investigate
prisoner abuse and the roles played by psychologists and other health
professionals.
Leonard S. Rubenstein, executive director of the physicians' group, asked
the American Psychological Association in June to condemn SERE
interrogations and the "collaboration" and "complicity" of psychologists in
those practices.
Two years ago, then-APA President Gerald Koocher created a nine-member Task
Force on Psychological Ethics and National Security. That group defended
SERE and found that psychologists are in "unique position to assist in
ensuring that such processes are safe and ethical for all participants."
But when names of task force members became public, six turned out to have
direct ties to military or intelligence agencies.
Last month, after the OIG report was released, two of the three civilian
members said the former APA report "should be annulled" because its
investigative process was flawed.
Dr. Jean Maria Arrigo, one of those members, called for a moratorium in the
involvement of psychologists in any military interrogations. Dr.
Koocher himself condemned SERE practices as "torture and cruel, inhuman and
degrading treatment."
APA's current leaders, however, have taken no public position about
collaboration by some psychologists with inhumane questioning of prisoners.
Many political leaders and newspapers are calling for the closure of
Guantanamo and for humane treatment of prisoners.
The American Psychological Association should condemn torture and censure
any of its members who participate in it.
[end *Charleston Gazette* Editorial]
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--
Linda M. Woolf, Ph.D.
Professor of Psychology and International Human Rights
Past-President, Society for the Study of Peace, Conflict, & Violence
(Div. 48, APA) <http://www.peacepsych.org>
Steering Committee, Psychologists for Social Responsibility (PsySR)
<http://www.psysr.org>
Secretary, Raphael Lemkin Award Committee, Institute for the Study of
Genocide <http://www.isg-iags.org/>
Coordinator - Holocaust & Genocide Studies
Center for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Human Rights
Webster University
470 East Lockwood
St. Louis, MO 63119
Main Webpage: http://www.webster.edu/~woolflm/
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
"Outside of a dog, a book is a man's (and woman's) best friend. . . .
Inside a dog, it's too dark to read."
- Groucho Marx
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