“What sets us apart from our enemies in this fight . . . is how we behave. In everything we do, we must observe the standards and values that dictate that we treat noncombatants and detainees with dignity and respect. While we are warriors, we are also all human beings.” — General David Petraeus, May 10, 2007
“Two images — Guantanamo on the one hand and Abu Ghraib on the other — are the images for which, unfortunately, the U.S. is probably better known around the world today than for the Statue of Liberty.” — David Cole, Georgetown University Law Center, Feb. 18, 2008
“Medical ethicists say that the Bush era torture program architected and overseen by psychologists will go down as one of the greatest scandals in the history of medical ethics, on a par with the Tuskegee experiments of the mid twentieth century… an incalculable large stain has been left on the profession of psychology.” –Geoff Gray, Weaponizing Psychology, 2014
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 President has the sole authority to determine whether…
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 United Nations International Day In Support Of Victims…
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 Association (APA); the Solomon Asch Center for the…
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 APA; Scott Gerwehr, a RAND Corp. policy analyst;…
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, blatant, and wanton criminal abuses” at Abu Ghraib….
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 to lawyers at the White House, Pentagon and…
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 central aims of torture is to reduce an…
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 devastating critique of the agency’s detention and interrogation…
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 leadership and officials in the CIA, Pentagon, and…
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 themselves from the government’s national security interrogations, and…
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 boundaries, and to recommend guidelines for psychiatrists’ conduct…
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 officials had counseled the agency, since 2003 to…
