Study accuses psychologists group of complicity in CIA torture program
The American Psychologists Association, the largest professional scientific organization of its kind, was secretly complicit in the adoption of torturous interrogation tactics used by the United States against detainees, a new report suggests.
A study released this week by noteable
anti-torture critics reveals that an analysis of emails from the
inbox of a deceased US government contractor demonstrates
compliance on behalf of the APA with regards to the drafting of
so-called enhanced interrogation techniques, or EITs, developed
under President George W. Bush.
APA officials was in cahoots with members of the Bush
administration, including Central Intelligence Agency employees
and contractors, when the government struggled to codify policies
for its torture program following the terrorist attacks of
September 11, 200, according to the report – an effort led by
psychoanalyst and anti-war activist Stephen Soldz as well as
Nathaniel Raymond and Steven Reisner – two members of the group
Physicians for Human Rights.
“The APA secretly coordinated with officials from the CIA,
White House and the Department of Defense to create an APA ethics
policy on national security interrogations which comported with
then-classified legal guidance authorizing the CIA torture
program,” the authors say.
Big story by @JamesRisen: American Psychological Association secretly collaborated with Bush admin to justify torture http://t.co/Htg3Ia6miW
— Trevor Timm (@trevortimm) April 30, 2015
“The complicity between APA and government entities appears
to have directly influenced the APA ethics policy changes,
codified into the June 2005 report of the APA’s Presidential Task
Force on Psychological Ethics and National Security (PENS),”
continues their report, aptly named “All the President’s
Psychologists.”
Contrary to previous claims made by the world's largest
association of psychologists, the study suggests that the APA was
intimately aware of the torture program but did nothing to
discourage its development. Further, its authors also allege that
the behavior science advisor to Pres. Bush is reported to have
drafted “language related to research” that the APA inserted into
its official ethics policy on interrogations published in 2005 at
the height of the US-led war on terror, and that the organization
failed to disclose ties with doctors linked to the EIT program.
The PENS report, the authors behind the latest study say,
permitted psychologists to monitor and evaluate the safety and
efficacy of the “enhanced” interrogation program, albeit after
direct collusion with the Bush administration.
Nearly 700 emails from the late Scott Gerwehr – a researcher for
RAND Corporation and an “apparent CIA contractor,” the
study says – show the APA had numerous contacts with Drs. James
Mitchell and Bruce Jessen, the alleged architects of the torture
program, beginning in at least 2003. Nevertheless, the APA has
distanced itself from any affiliation with either, according to
the study.
#APA secretly coordinated w/ #CIA to enhance legal justification for #torture program: http://t.co/EeTFQ3vBoZ More: https://t.co/nkA0CKJmjI
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) April 30, 2015
With more than 137,000 members, the authors of All the
President’s Psychologists say the APA’s past actions, according
to this week’s report, “undermines the fundamental ethical
standards of the profession.”
“The analysis presented in this report raises serious concerns
about the APA Board’s knowledge of, involvement in, and
responsibility for allowing the US government to unduly influence
and change APA policy on interrogations,” the authors say.
“The resulting policy facilitated the continuation of the Bush
Administration torture program. Additionally, the Board’s rapid
codification of the PENS report’s conclusions into APA policy was
accompanied by a litany of alse or obscurantist public statements
issued by APA presidents, Boards, and the press office. These
statements did not accurately portray the history of the APA’s
connection with individuals and government entities involved in
the ‘enhanced’ interrogation program.”
Rhea Farberman, a spokeswoman for APA, told the New York Times that there “has never been
any coordination between APA and the Bush administration on how
APA responded to the controversies about the role of
psychologists in the interrogations program.”
Last year, the results of a long-awaited “torture report” penned
by member of the US Senate on the use of EITs was published
despite efforts from the CIA to stifle publication. Sen. Dianne
Feinstein (D-California), the chair of the committee that
conducted the four-year investigation, said there was “no
evidence that terror attacks were stopped, terrorists captured or
lives saved through use of EITs.”
