On September 11, 2001 the American people were confronted with a cataclysmic shock; terrorists were able to penetrate U.S. national defense barriers and murder 3,000 people. Within days, Vice President Dick Cheney stated on NBC’s Meet the Press: “We have to work . . . Continue reading →

After the atrocities of the two world wars in the 20th century, most nations condemned torture and made it illegal. A recently released archive of the United Nations War Crimes Commission, created in 1943 to classify and identify Axis war crimes and . . . Continue reading →

Nov. 2001: U.S. Department of Justice “legalizes” nonconsensual experiments Experimenting on prisoners of war is explicitly prohibited by the Nuremberg Code, the Geneva Conventions and U.S. law (18 USC section 1430). The Pentagon sought to lift these prohibitions on research involving prisoners. . . . Continue reading →

After September 11, 2001, the C.I.A. ignored its own 1989 conclusions that torture is not an effective way to elicit intelligence information, and embarked on widespread use of torture globally, employing the euphemistic term, “enhanced interrogation techniques” (EIT). America’s post-9/11 torture techniques . . . Continue reading →

The primary argument that officials in the Bush administration made in defense of their authorization for the use of “enhanced interrogation techniques” (EIT) — otherwise recognized as torture — is that their use in interrogations of Al Qaeda suspects resulted in obtaining . . . Continue reading →

The Office of Legal Counsel was established to serve as the “constitutional conscience” of the Justice Department: “OLC is, and views itself as, the frontline institution responsible for ensuring that the executive branch charged with executing the law is itself bound by . . . Continue reading →

In December 2001, a small group of professors and law enforcement and intelligence officers gathered outside Philadelphia at the home of a prominent psychologist, Martin E. P. Seligman, to brainstorm about Muslim extremism. Seligman is most famous for his work in the . . . Continue reading →

 Al Qaeda were labelled “unlawful enemy combatants.” President Bush effectively denied prisoners in the War on Terror the legal protections and minimum standards for humane treatment under Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions. He did so while stating that, as a matter . . . Continue reading →

Feb. 2002: President Bush Executive Order authorizes JTF-170 GTMO Intelligence Corps. Guantanamo Bay Detention Center opens (Jan. 2002) and is almost immediately transformed into a “Battle Lab” – the term used to describe the intelligence operation by Commander MG Dunlavey and later . . . Continue reading →

Katherine Eban, in her extraordinary report Rorscharch and Awe in Vanity Fair (2007), unmasked the fabricated lie crediting torture as the key to successful interrogations. In fact, it was the F.B.I.’s humane treatment and rapport-building techniques that prompted of Abu Zubaydah to . . . Continue reading →

Abu Zubaydah was described as al-Qaeda’s coordinator of attacks who helped manage an Al Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan. He was detained at a “black site” in Thailand and first interrogated from March to June 2002, by two seasoned FBI agents, Ali . . . Continue reading →

The Senate Armed Services Committee Report (2009) shows that in memos to the Office of Legal Counsel in both the Justice Department and Defense Department, senior officials in the Joint Personnel Recovery Agency (JPRA) openly referred to torture: “the memo did not purport to . . . Continue reading →

SERE is the acronym for “survival, evasion, resistance escape”, a military training program.(Read more above ) Published reports indicate that the acute stressful SERE techniques have produced physiological and psychological harm. Investigative reporter and psychologist Jeffrey Kaye has written numerous articles reporting physiological . . . Continue reading →

The Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) issued a series of infamous “Torture Memoranda” redefining the criminal prohibition against torture as defined in 18 USC 2340A-2340B, which “is the controlling legal constraint on interrogations of detainees outside the United . . . Continue reading →

Alberto Gonzales Counsel to the President, David Addington, Counsel to the Vice President, Jim Haynes DoD General Counsel, John Rizzo Acting CIA General Counsel, Michael Chertoff Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division, and other senior administration officials travelled to Guantanamo Bay . . . Continue reading →

 According to the Senate Armed Services Committee Report (2009), several witnesses expressed concerns about using the term “Battle Lab” to describe Guantanamo prison (GTMO). The Commander of the Criminal Investigative Task Force (CITF), Col. Britt Mallow testified: “While [“Battle Lab”] was logical . . . Continue reading →

The stated purpose of the Guantanamo Bay Detention Center (GTMO), opened in Jan. 2002, was to house the most dangerous detainees, the “worst of the worst” captured in the course of the Global War on Terrorism. However, an analysis of the numerous . . . Continue reading →

Collaborating health professionals assessed the ability of detainees to endure severe pain; they calibrated the level of pain caused by certain techniques; they assessed the effects of sleep deprivation; and they determined the advisability and effectiveness of using simultaneous combinations of torture . . . Continue reading →

On April 28, 2004, CBS-60 Minutes broadcast the first of a horrific series of excruciatingly graphic Abu Ghraib prison photographs documenting atrocities. The American public was shocked by the depraved sadistic cruelty documented in photographs from Abu Ghraib prison showing Iraqi prisoners . . . Continue reading →

Behavioral Science Consultation Teams (BSCTs) – primarily psychologists and psychiatrists – were integral to CIA’s brutal interrogations using torture. In June 2002, upon their arrival at GTMO, psychiatrist Maj. Paul Burney, psychologist John Leso and a psychiatric technician had expected to help . . . Continue reading →

The memo was written by psychiatrist Major Paul Burney and psychologist Major John Leso, is still classified but was reviewed and cited in the Senate Armed Services Committee Report. The memo describes three interrogation technique categories intended to “develop rapport, promote cooperation, . . . Continue reading →

As pertinent U.S. government documents slowly emerge from the dark, a record of criminal violence, subterfuge and suppression of evidence is shown to run very deep. The main purpose of torture was not, as the American people had been led to believe, . . . Continue reading →

David Cole, a leading constitutional scholar (Georgetown University) who co-authored Less Safe, Less Free: Why America Is Losing the War on Terror (2007) noted in a recent 2015 OpEd: “Responsibility for the program lies not with the C.I.A. alone, but also with . . . Continue reading →

The Joint Task Force of Guantanamo (JTF-GTMO) requested permission to use torture techniques such as, isolation, sensory deprivation, stripping off clothing, hooding, exploiting the detainee’s phobias (such as a fear of dogs) to induce stress, and “scenarios designed to convince the detainee . . . Continue reading →

Military Lawyers Raise Legal & Ethical Red Flags Rejecting Guantanamo Intelligence Request for use of torture.  The Chief of the Army’s International and Operational Law Division wrote that techniques such as stress positions, deprivation of light and auditory stimuli, and use of . . . Continue reading →

“CIA experts drew up a list of interrogation techniques that differed from those Zubaydah had successfully resisted. George [Tenet] assured me all interrogations would be performed by experienced intelligence professionals who had undergone extensive training. Medical personnel would be on-site to guarantee . . . Continue reading →

U.S. Definition of Torture: 18 U.S. Code sec. 2340 (effective 1994)  (1) “torture” means an act committed by a person acting under the color of law specifically intended to inflict severe physical or mental pain or suffering (other than pain or suffering incidental . . . Continue reading →

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld ignored the serious legal and ethical red flags raised by military lawyers, and granted blanket authority for use of Category I and II of coercive SERE tactics in detainee interrogations. Category III, which includes waterboarding was not . . . Continue reading →

A Justice Department Inspector General Report (2008; revised when parts were declassified 2009) provides details of alleged abuse of detainees in the military zones, including military misconduct observed by FBI agents at Guantanamo, Afghanistan, and Iraq between 2001 and 2004. One thousand FBI . . . Continue reading →

Defense Secretary Rumsfeld rescinded his authorization of many coercive interrogation methods as a result of the continued objection by military lawyers who questioned these abusive tactics noting that they likely would be judged as violating the Torture Convention’s prohibition against “acts of . . . Continue reading →

The March 14, 2003, Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel memorandum was written by attorney John Yoo for the Pentagon General Counsel William “Jim” Haynes. The memo lays out a defense against criminal prosecution arguing that as Commander in Chief, the . . . Continue reading →

On April 16, 2003: Donald Rumsfeld authorized the use of 24 specific torture techniques for use in Guantanamo, stating authority for additional techniques for a particular detainee may be requested. Two months later, President Bush issued a statement in observance of the . . . Continue reading →

On February 28, 2002, an invitation only Conference, Countering Terrorism: Integration of Practice and Theory,” was held at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia. It was sponsored by the Behavioral Science Unit of the FBI, the Science Directorate of the American Psychological . . . Continue reading →

In July 2003, an invitation only conference co-sponsored by the APA, the CIA and RAND Corp. was co-organized by Susan Brandon, Program Officer for Affect and Biobehavioral Regulation at the National Institute of Mental Health, while also serving as “Senior Scientist” at the . . . Continue reading →

Two months before the Abu Ghraib photographs exploded on the internet, the U.S. Military Police Brigade conducted an Article 15-6 Investigation of prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib. An internal 53-page Army report by Major General Antonio Taguba documented numerous instances of “sadistic, . . . Continue reading →

After a month long inspection of Guantanamo Bay prison, the International Committee of the Red Cross issued a report charging that American military intentionally used psychological and sometimes physical coercion “tantamount to torture” on prisoners. The confidential report was distributed in July . . . Continue reading →

According to the United Nations Istanbul Protocol (2004), the Guide for doctors and lawyers who document and investigate allegations of prisoner mistreatment, reducing detainees to a state of helplessness and despair “is itself one of the central harms of torture”: “One of the . . . Continue reading →

In January 2003, after CIA personnel expressed concern about human rights abuses at CIA facilities, the CIA Inspector General initiated an investigation to CIA interrogation practices. It’s Report, “Counterterrorism Detention and Interrogation (Sept. 2001 – Oct. 2003) issued May 7, 2004, is . . . Continue reading →

In 2014, Pulitzer Prize winner, James Risen provided insider documentation for APA’s backroom collusion in his book, Pay Any Price: Greed, Power, and Endless War. Risen’s source is a treasure trove of internal e-mail correspondence documenting the secret backroom collusion between APA’s . . . Continue reading →

The American Psychological Association (APA) has remained at the center of controversy following revelations of psychologists’ central role in the horrific inhuman treatment of prisoners at Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, and at secret CIA “black sites.” Other professional healthcare and medical associations distanced . . . Continue reading →

In the wake of the revelations that psychiatrists participated in torture at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo prison, in June 2005, the Board of Trustees of the American Psychiatric Association (APA) solicited input from divisions within the APA  to clarify ethical and professional . . . Continue reading →

Jose Rodriguez, the CIA Director of Clandestine Operations first ordered the Zubaydah torture sessions to be videotaped. He then tried, without success, to obtain permission to destroy the tapes. The Washington Post reported that at least five senior CIA and White House . . . Continue reading →

The Washington Post report, Wrongful Imprisonment: Anatomy of a CIA Mistake, details the case of Khaled Masri, a German citizen who had been wrongly imprisoned for five months by the CIA “largely because the head of the CIA’s Counterterrorist Center’s Al Qaeda . . . Continue reading →

Under the updated American Medical Association Code of Ethics, (2006) Physicians have five ethical obligations To perform physical and mental assessments of detainees only to determine if there is a need for medical care and provide this care Not to participate in interrogations . . . Continue reading →

“Educing Information” a report issued by the Intelligence Science Board (ISB, 2006) is a comprehensive compilation about the scientific knowledge base of interrogation techniques since WWII that sought to address the question “What works?” methods that work in interrogations. It was a . . . Continue reading →

In June 2006, the Supreme Court ruled in the case of Hamdan v. Rumsfeld (548 U.S. 557) that Al Qaeda prisoners were entitled to the Geneva Conventions’ protections against humiliating and degrading treatment, and “outrages on personal dignity.” And the Court ruled . . . Continue reading →

The Instruction memo, (3900.39D) titled “Human Research Protection Program” was issued by Secretary of the Navy, Donald Winter. While explicitly prohibiting the use of prisoners – including “unlawful enemy combatants” – for research, the memo states that waivers of informed consent for . . . Continue reading →

The DoD Inspector General Review of Investigations of Detainee Abuse focuses on “reports, investigations, and reviews of matters involving persons who were in custody of the U.S. military, without regard to the status of the person in custody… As of February 27, . . . Continue reading →

Since the 1980s the American Psychological Association (APA) has had a unique relationship with Senator Daniel Inouye’s office. For nearly twenty five years, psychologist Patrick Deleon, Sen. Inouye’s top assistant was APA’s man on Capitol Hill who effectively lobbied on behalf of . . . Continue reading →

A 10-year Timeline “Psychology, Torture, and the APA” is posted on the website of the Coalition for Ethical Psychology documenting the active participation of psychologists, and the American Psychological Association (APA) with the CIA and pentagon in devising and testing torture techniques on suspected . . . Continue reading →

“For more than two years, White House officials had been creating a counterterrorism infrastructure that stretched the bounds of American law, and they had relied on a junior attorney in the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, John C. Yoo, to provide . . . Continue reading →

The “strictly confidential” International Red Cross (ICRC) Report on the Treatment of Fourteen “High Value Detainees” in CIA Custody follows several other reports: Nov. 2004 and April 2006. The detainees had been transferred in 2006 from undisclosed CIA detention facilities to DoD . . . Continue reading →

Katherine Eban reports in Vanity Fair that the military, which has championed modern-day psychology since World War II, continues to be one of the largest single employers of psychologists through its network of veterans’ hospitals. The military also funded a prescription-drug training . . . Continue reading →

Judge Susan Crawford, the Convening Authority for GTMO Military Commissions (Feb. 2007 – Jan. 2010), ordered the war-crimes charges against Mohammed al-Qahtani dropped but did not state publicly that the harsh interrogations were the reason. In June 2005, Time magazine obtained 83 . . . Continue reading →

The comprehensive review by the Senate Armed Services Committee Report (hereinafter Armed Services Report, released April, 2009) reveals that in Nov./Dec. 2001, after Administration officials suspended U.S. adherence to the Geneva Conventions, they actively sought information about “enhanced interrogation” methods and detainee . . . Continue reading →

The highly critical CIA Inspector General’s Report about the CIA’s interrogation tactics was withheld from the public. In 2008, a highly redacted version was released only after a lawsuit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union. A slightly less redacted version . . . Continue reading →

The authors of the book, Less Safe, Less Free: Why America is Losing the War on Terror, are two constitutional scholars; David Cole (Georgetown University Law Center) and Jules Lobel (University of Pittsburgh). They argue that the “war on terror” has not . . . Continue reading →

The use of “mind-altering substances” on prisoners was banned for decades in the U.S. But in April 2008, two reports alleged that psychotropic drugs were being used as an “enhancement” for interrogations. Jeff Stein reported in Congressional Quartely: “There can be little . . . Continue reading →

Physicians for Human Rights Report, Aiding Torture: Health Professionals’ Ethics and Human Rights Violations (2009), is a medical analysis of the CIA – Inspector General Report findings (2004, partly declassified in 2008; 2009). noted the central role that health professionals played in the CIA’s torture . . . Continue reading →

More than 83,000 pages of primary source documents (and thousands more to come) related to the detention and interrogation of individuals by the United States, in connection with the conduct of hostilities in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as in the broader . . . Continue reading →

President Obama issued an executive order indicating that any legal interpretation of the law governing torture and interrogation of detainees in U.S. custody issued by the Department of Justice between Sept. 11, 2001 and Jan. 20, 2009 were unreliable. (DOJ Office of . . . Continue reading →

Dennis Blair Director of National Intelligence disclosed that President Obama authorized the intelligence community to assassinate American abroad who are considered terrorist threats to the U.S. Some House members raised concerns about these latest developments. Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-Mich.), who criticized the . . . Continue reading →

During the 2008 presidential campaign, Obama sharply criticized the Bush Administration’s extraordinary renditions program—i.e., outsourcing torture. In an article in he wrote in Foreign Affairs, he stated: “To build a better, freer world, we must first behave in ways that reflect the . . . Continue reading →

After a five year investigation, the Justice Department Office of Professional Responsibility released its report, Investigation into the Office of Legal Counsel’s Memoranda Concerning Issues Relating to the CIA’s Use of “Enhanced Interrogation Techniques” on Suspected Terrorists, accompanied by internal memos on July . . . Continue reading →

Although most Americans mistakenly believe that President Obama ended the use of torture in interrogations, the reality is that he merely shifted the operations from the CIA, created a newly christened agency, but entrusting its research operation to the same individual that . . . Continue reading →

“Doctors Without Morals” an OpEd in The New York Times authored by Leonard Rubenstein, a lawyer and visiting scholar at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and Dr. Stephen Xenakis, a psychiatrist and retired Army Brigadier General, calls for independent investigations . . . Continue reading →

After a two year tug of war between Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the Chair of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and the CIA, the “redaction—studded version” of the Executive Summary (500 pages of the 6,000 page report) was released on December . . . Continue reading →

Former CIA analyst, John Kiriakou was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison. He was officially convicted for leaking the name of a covert officer, but Kiriakou said he was really being targeted for being a whistleblower and revealing the details about . . . Continue reading →

Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and author James Risen, whom Newsweek called “the finest national security reporter of this generation,” infuriated government intelligence officials with his article about massive, surveillance without a warrant by the National Security Agency (NSA) which The New York Times shelved in 2004 . . . Continue reading →

In Mainstreaming Torture: Ethical Approaches, (Oxford University Press, 2014), Rebecca Gordon argues that the 9/11 attacks reopened a question that many Americans had assumed was a settled ethical question, which is: Is torture ever morally permissible? She notes that defenders of torture . . . Continue reading →

In a penetrating, comprehensively referenced article on the Washington Blog, David Swanson removes the blinders that have misled most media commentators from seeing clearly that the torture, extraordinary renditions and assassination policies have not only not disappeared; they have actually accelerated under . . . Continue reading →

Ostensibly, the stated purpose for the resort to brutal interrogations was to obtain “actionable intelligence” and “critical threat information” to prevent a ticking bomb from detonating. That was the justification given when in 2004 the Administration was confronted with the leaked confidential . . . Continue reading →

Psychologists involved in “interrogation science” and “deception detection” – otherwise recognized as experiments in torture – appear to be thriving under the Obama administration. Most prominent among them is psychologist Susan Brandon, PhD who after 9/11 served as “Senior Scientist” at the . . . Continue reading →

A powerful essay by Alessandra Hirsch, a granddaughter of Holocaust survivors in The Hastings Center, Bioethics Forum (2015): “The CIA’s actions share four main qualities with those of the Nazi doctors: 1) they experimented on their detainees, 2) they perverted medical procedures, . . . Continue reading →

When President Obama assured the American people that “my team” vetted the surveillance system in 2009 and “scrubbed” the faulty parts…he was not telling the truth. He did not fire the heads of intelligence who took us far on an abominable path . . . Continue reading →

Marc Ambinder. Inside the Secret Interrogation Facility at Bagram, The Atlantic, May, 2010 Mark Benjamin. “War on terror” Psychologist Gets Giant No-Bid Contract,” Salon, Oct. 14, 2010 Mark Benjamin. Psychologists Group Still rocked by Torture Debate, Salon, Aug. 4, 2006 Gregg Bloche, . . . Continue reading →