No subject

Sat May 2 19:26:18 EDT 2009

from the Counter Terrorism Center, responsible for the SERE-based enhanced
interrogation (torture) program, in organizing a 2003 workshop on the
Science of Deception. James Mitchell and Bruce Jessen, the chief former SER=
E
psychologists who reportedly designed and implemented the CIA's
interrogation program were present at this invitation-only workshop. The
workshop discussed such topics as the use of drugs and sensory overload in
overcoming deception.

The close collaboration between APA Defense Department and CIA officials
raises serious concerns about possible direct collusion with APA leaders to
provide the ethical cover required to keep psychologists involved in this
process =97 of certifying that interrogations were "safe, legal, and ethica=
l"
(as required by the OLC memos). Every effort was made during the PENS
process to keep the final report consistent with military and administratio=
n
policy. Thus, when the three non-military members of the Task force raised
issues of human rights for detainees, the Chair of the Task force (who was
Vice-chair of the APA ethics committee) made clear that the Task force was
not to contradict military policy: =93[W]e discussed the role of human righ=
ts
standards for the document, and it seems that our colleagues from the
military were clear that including such standards in the document would
likely (perhaps definitely) put the document at odds with United States law
and military regulations.=94

The Coalition for an Ethical Psychology is joining the call of Psychologist=
s
for Social Responsibility<http://psysr.org/about/pubs_resources/torture_com=
mission.php>,
Physicians for Human
Rights,<http://physiciansforhumanrights.org/library/news-2009-05-05.html>an=
d
others
<http://psychoanalystsopposewar.org/blog/2009/04/27/bioethicist-steven-mile=
-calls-for-investigation-of-american-psychological-association-ties-to-mili=
tary/>for
an independent, unbiased investigation to examine the nature of any
collaboration and coordination between the top APA leadership and Bush
administration Defense Department and CIA officials. The Coalition also
supports calls for a non-partisan commission to examine detainee abuse,
including the central roles of psychologists and other health providers in
designing, implementing, and legitimizing recent detainee abuse. We further
call for ethics sanctions, including loss of professional licenses, and
possible criminal prosecution for all health providers found to have
participated in torture or abuse.

*"The future of psychology as a profession dedicated to helping people
depends on investigating and seeking accountability for the assistance
provided by some of our colleagues to the horrific abuses committed by our
country"* said Coalition co-founder Stephen Soldz.*  "We cannot ignore that
the leadership of our professional association may have aided those abuses.
In order to build a more humane future, we must look back and see where and
how some members of our profession went so terribly wrong."***

************

*The Coalition for an Ethical Psychology is dedicated to putting psychology
on a firm ethical foundation in support of social justice and human rights.
The Coalition has been in the lead of efforts to remove psychologists from
torture and abusive interrogations.*

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<br><br><div class=3D"gmail_quote">---------- Forwarded message ----------<=
br>From: <b class=3D"gmail_sendername">Stephen Soldz</b> <span dir=3D"ltr">=
&lt;<a href=3D"mailto:ssoldz at bgsp.edu">ssoldz at bgsp.edu</a>&gt;</span><br>Da=
te: Tue, May 5, 2009 at 12:58 PM<br>
<br>

<div link=3D"blue" vlink=3D"purple" lang=3D"EN-US">

<div>

Press release just sent by the Coalition for an Ethical
Psychology. Physicians for Human Rights has issued a similar call for an
investigation. These follow analogous calls by Psychologists for Social
Responsibility and bioethicist Steven Miles:

<p>=A0</p>

<p style=3D"text-align: center;" align=3D"center"><b><i><span>For Immediate=
 Release</span></i></b></p>

<p style=3D"text-align: center;" align=3D"center"><b><span>=A0</span></b></=
p>

<p style=3D"text-align: center;" align=3D"center"><b><span>Coalition for an=
 Ethical Psychology
Calls for Independent Investigation of Ties between the American Psychologi=
cal
Association and Defense-Intelligence Establishment.</span></b></p>

<p style=3D"text-align: center;" align=3D"center"><b><span>=A0</span></b></=
p>

Supports Calls f=
or Commission to
Investigate Psychologist and Health Provider Complicity in U.S. Torture</sp=
an>

<p><span>=A0</span></p>

<p><b><span>Contacts:</span></b></p>

<p><span style=3D"font-family: &quot;Times New Roman&quot;,&quot;serif&quot=
;;">=A0</span></p>

<p>Stephen Soldz, Ph.D.</p>

<p><a href=3D"mailto:ssoldz at bgsp.edu" target=3D"_blank">ssoldz at bgsp.edu</a>=
</p>

<p>=A0</p>

<p>Steven Reisner, Ph.D.</p>

<p><a href=3D"mailto:drreisner at gmail.com" target=3D"_blank">drreisner at gmail=
.com</a>=A0=A0=A0
</p>

<p>=A0</p>

<p>May 5, 2009</p>

<p>=A0</p>

The Coalition for an Ethical Psychology today calls for
an independent and unbiased investigation into possible collusion between t=
op
APA leadership and the Bush administration&#39;s Defense Department and CIA=
. Newly
released emails from the American Psychological Association&#39;s (APA) tas=
k force
on Psychological Ethics and National Security (PENS) posted on the ProPu=
blica
web site today [<a href=3D"http://s3.amazonaws.com/propublica/assets/docs/p=
ens_listserv.pdf" target=3D"_blank">http://s3.amazonaws.com/propublica/asse=
ts/docs/pens_listserv.pdf</a>].,
raise serious concerns regarding the role of the APA in providing cover for=
 the
Bush Administration abusive interrogation program. The emails suggest collu=
sion
between the APA and the Defense Department to create an ethics policy
consistent with the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) authorizing torture:

<p>=A0</p>

<p style=3D"margin-left: 0.5in;"><i>=93We can now see that the APA
provided a platform to rewrite APA ethics policy for psychologists who were
aware of, and possibly involved in, these abusive interrogation processes,=
=94 </i>said
Steven Reisner, founding member of the Coalition for an Ethical Psychology.=
<i>
=93The APA undermined 2000 years of medical ethics by giving its imprimatur=
 to
policy derived from secret interrogation manuals.=94</i></p>

<p>=A0</p>

The recently released Senate
Armed Services Committee (SASC) report provides dramatic confirmation of wh=
at
last week&#39;s release of the OLC memos made clear: that the Bush administ=
ration&#39;s
program of detainee abuse and torture depended crucially upon the professio=
n of
psychology and individual psychologists for its implementation and legal ju=
stification.
The SASC report documents that at CIA black sites and at Guantanamo,
psychologists helped design and implement the SERE-based abusive interrogat=
ion
techniques, constituting cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, and often
crossing the line into torture. The SASC report reveals, for example, that =
as
early as March 2002, psychologist Bruce Jessen, who introduced water-boardi=
ng
and other SERE techniques into CIA interrogations, began &quot;ad-hoc &#39;=
crash&#39;
training courses=94 to bring abusive techniques to Guant=E1namo. Psychologi=
st Gary
Percival continued the training. And psychologist Col. Morgan Banks, while
arguing against physical torture, nonetheless trained the Guantanamo BSCTs =
in
the uses of SERE techniques in preparation for detainee interrogations. Fol=
lowing
that training, SASC has reported that BSCT psychologist John Leso advocated=
 for
and helped implement abusive techniques, including =93psychological stressors such as sleep deprivation, withholdin=
g food,
isolation, and loss of time.=94=A0 Leso is known to have participate=
d
in the interrogation of Mohammed al-Qahtani, an interrogation recently
described as meeting the legal definition of &quot;torture&quot; by Susan
Crawford, the Pentagon official appointed by President Bush to coordinate t=
he
military commission trials.

<p>=A0</p>

Last week&#39;s release of the OLC memos also confirmed the
central role psychologists and physicians played in providing legal cover f=
or
the abusive interrogation techniques. The memos assert that the techniques =
ostensibly
do not violate torture statutes because they do not cause =93lasting mental
harm;=94 in fact, the memos argue, the presence of trained health professio=
nals
guarantees against such harm. The memos go further, asserting that should h=
arm
occur, CIA operatives would be indemnified against prosecution because they
could rely on a good faith defense: =93Good f=
aith may
be established by, among other things, the reliance on the advice of expert=
s.=94

<p>=A0</p>

For years the American Psychological Association has fully
endorsed such a role for psychologists in aiding national security
interrogations, stating &quot;psychologists have a critical role in keeping
interrogations safe, legal, ethical, and effective,&quot; The
phrase, taken from instructions to BSCTs distributed to the PENS task force=
 by
Col. Morgan Banks, was included in the Task Force Report, written during th=
e
task force meeting by the APA&#39;s Ethics Director, Dr. Stephen Behnke. Be=
hnke, an
observer to the PENS process, wrote the first draft of the report within fo=
ur
hours of the start of the 2 =BD day meeting.

<p>=A0</p>

Chief Army SERE psychologist, Morgan Banks was one of six
military and intelligence psychologists on the nine-member task force. Four=
 of
these PENS members served in chains of command accused of abuses, including=
 the
CIA Counter Terrorism Center, JPRA=92s SERE program, the Joint Intelligence=
 Group
at Guant=E1namo, and detention facilities in Afghanistan. In spite of their
knowledge of widespread implementation of interrogation protocols based on
abusive SERE techniques, none of the military or intelligence members of th=
e
Task force acknowledged any coercive or stressful interrogations now known =
to
have occurred at Guantanamo, in the CIA black sites, and elsewhere in Iraq =
and
Afghanistan. Apparently, not one of the psychologists described in these
reports whose command participated in these abuses, reported the abuse or
refused to participate. Instead, these psychologists simply denied that abu=
se
was taking place. For example, Col. Larry James stated on the PENS listserv=
: =93The
fact of the matter is that since Jan 2003, where ever we have had psycholog=
ists
no abuses have been reported .=94 Col. James was Chief Psychologist for the=
 Joint
Intelligence Group, Guant=E1namo during a period when SERE-style abuses wer=
e
widely reported.

<p>=A0</p>

The PENS report includes a citation of APA ethics standard
1.02 which essentially wrote the Nuremberg defense =96 &quot;I was just fol=
lowing
orders&quot; =96 into the ethics code. The standard, added to the ethics co=
de in
2002, asserts that a psychologist may follow military regulation or law whe=
n
these conflict with ethical obligations.

<p><span style=3D"text-transform: uppercase;">=A0</span></p>

&quot;The Nuremberg defense, and related research ethics
problems must be removed from the ethics code if psychology as a profession=
 is
to stand on a clear moral foundation. Otherwise ethics will just remain a c=
over
for abuse&quot; stated Dr. Stephen Soldz, of the Coalition f=
or
an Ethical Psychology and Board member of Psychologists for Social
Responsibility.

<p>=A0</p>

The newly released emails further show that soon after the
task force report was finalized, two military members of the task force=A0
[Morgan Banks and Larry James] along with JPRA/SERE psychologist Debra Duni=
vin
brought the PENS report to the Surgeon General of the Army, Lt. Gen. Kevin =
C.
Kiley. Kiley attached the PENS report to BSCT standard operating procedures=
 he
issued in 2006.

<p>=A0</p>

From the intelligence side, in 2003 the APA collaborated
with CIA officials from the Counter Terrorism Center, responsible for the
SERE-based enhanced interrogation (torture) program, in organizing a 2003
workshop on the Science of Deception. James Mitchell and Bruce Jessen, the
chief former SERE psychologists who reportedly designed and implemented the
CIA&#39;s interrogation program were present at this invitation-only worksh=
op. The
workshop discussed such topics as the use of drugs and sensory overload in
overcoming deception.=A0

<p>=A0</p>

The close collaboration between APA Defense Department and CIA officials raises serious
concerns about possible direct collusion with APA leaders to provide the
ethical cover required to keep psychologists involved in this process =97 o=
f
certifying that interrogations were &quot;safe, legal, and ethical&quot; (a=
s
required by the OLC memos). Every effort was made during the PENS process t=
o
keep the final report consistent with military and administration policy. T=
hus,
when the three non-military members of the Task force raised issues of huma=
n
rights for detainees, the Chair of the Task force (who was Vice-chair of th=
e
APA ethics committee) made clear that the Task force was not to contradict
military policy: =93[W]e discussed the role o=
f human
rights standards for the document, and it seems that our colleagues from th=
e
military were clear that including such standards in the document would lik=
ely
(perhaps definitely) put the document at odds with United States law and
military regulations.=94

<p>=A0</p>

The Coalition for an Ethical Psychology is joining the call
of <a href=3D"http://psysr.org/about/pubs_resources/torture_commission.php"=
 target=3D"_blank">Psychologists
for Social Responsibility</a>, <a href=3D"http://physiciansforhumanrights.o=
rg/library/news-2009-05-05.html" target=3D"_blank">Physicians
for Human Rights,</a> and <a href=3D"http://psychoanalystsopposewar.org/blo=
g/2009/04/27/bioethicist-steven-mile-calls-for-investigation-of-american-ps=
ychological-association-ties-to-military/" target=3D"_blank">others
</a>for an independent, unbiased investigation to examine the nature of any
collaboration and coordination between the top APA leadership and Bush
administration Defense Department and CIA officials. The Coalition also
supports calls for a non-partisan commission to examine detainee abuse,
including the central roles of psychologists and other health providers in
designing, implementing, and legitimizing recent detainee abuse. We further
call for ethics sanctions, including loss of professional licenses, and pos=
sible
criminal prosecution for all health providers found to have participated in
torture or abuse.

<p>=A0</p>

&quot;The future of
psychology as a profession dedicated to helping people depends on investiga=
ting
and seeking accountability for the assistance provided by some of our
colleagues to the horrific abuses committed by our country&quot; sa=
id
Coalition co-founder Stephen Soldz.=A0 &quot;We cannot ignore that th=
e
leadership of our professional association may have aided those abuses. In
order to build a more humane future, we must look back and see where and ho=
w
some members of our profession went so terribly wrong.&quot;=

<p>=A0</p>

<p style=3D"text-align: center;" align=3D"center">************</p>

<p>=A0</p>

The Coalition for an Ethical Psychology is dedicated
to putting psychology on a firm ethical foundation in support of social jus=
tice
and human rights. The Coalition has been in the lead of efforts to remove
psychologists from torture and abusive interrogations.

<p>=A0</p>

<p>=A0</p></div></div></div><br>

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