Following Damning Report, American Psychological Association May Prohibit Interrogation Involvement

[unhappycamper]

http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/07/31/following-damning-report-american-psychological-association-may-prohibit

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'The legal facade behind which these heinous acts were conducted relied heavily on the cooperation of professional psychologists'—Amy Goodman

Following Damning Report, American Psychological Association May Prohibit Interrogation Involvement
Friday, July 31, 2015
Andrea Germanos

In the wake of an independent investigation confirming collusion between psychologists and U.S. government officials that aided the CIA and Pentagon's torture program, the American Psychological Association may be on the cusp on banning participation in terror-related interrogations.

James Risen reported Thursday at the New York Times:

The board of the APA, the nation’s largest professional organization for psychologists, is expected to recommend that members approve the ban at its annual meeting in Toronto next week, according to two members of the board, including Susan H. McDaniel, the group’s president-elect. The board’s proposal would make it a violation of the APA’s ethical policies for psychologists to play a role in national security interrogations involving any military or intelligence personnel, even the noncoercive interrogations now conducted by the Obama administration.

An APA press statement dated July 29 also states that its board recommended

that (its) Council adopts the following as APA policy: APA prohibits psychologist participation in interrogation of persons held in custody by military/intelligence authorities. Recommend that Council requests that the 2013 Policy Related to Psychologists' Work in National Security Settings and Reaffirmation of the APA Position Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment be fully implemented

As Amy Goodman wrote this month:

The legal facade behind which these heinous acts [of torturous interrogations 'from the U.S. prison camp in Guantanamo Bay to the dungeons of Abu Ghraib in Iraq and Bagram air base in Afghanistan'] were conducted relied heavily on the cooperation of professional psychologists, who trained and advised the interrogators and supervised the progress of the “breaking” of prisoners. This cooperation, in turn, was dependent on an official seal of approval from the American Psychological Association, the largest professional organization of psychologists in the world. In 2006, the American Psychiatric Association and the American Medical Association both barred their members from taking part in military interrogations.

[Malraiders]

1. Since members of the American Psychological Association have

shown themselves to be unethical smarmy paid colaberators in crime, how can leaders of the American Psychological Association expect their members will honor any rules implemented?

[cutroot]

2. Exactly

Just the fact that they need to mull this over speaks volumes.

[MisterP]

3. may? MAY?! I bet it'll just go "the guilty officers were punished and we've conducted an internal

review. Now here's David Niose on the great riddle of why people don't trust experts like it's 1962 anymore"