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Psychologists Bans Role in National Security Interrogations
World's Largest Group of Psychologists Bans Role in National Security Interrogations
By a nearly unanimous vote, the American Psychological Association's Council of Representatives voted Friday to
adopt a new policy barring psychologists from participating in national security interrogations. The resolution also puts the APA on the side of international law by barring psychologists from working at Guantánamo, CIA black sites and other settings deemed illegal under the Geneva Conventions or the UN Convention Against Torture, unless they are working directly for the persons being detained or for an independent third party working to protect human rights. The vote came at the APA's first convention since the release of a report confirming the APA leadership actively colluded with the Pentagon and the CIA torture programs.
The sole dissenter was retired Col. Larry James, former top Army intelligence psychologist at Guantánamo and Abu Ghraib. We play highlights from the vote, including APA President-elect Susan McDaniel, and speak with two of the leading dissident psychologists who have been pushing the APA to reverse its stance on interrogations for nearly a decade, Steven Reisner and Stephen Soldz, founding members of the Coalition for an Ethical Psychology.
cont. http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/32287-world-s-largest-group-of-psychologists-bans-role-in-national-security-interrogations
By a nearly unanimous vote, the American Psychological Association's Council of Representatives voted Friday to
adopt a new policy barring psychologists from participating in national security interrogations. The resolution also puts the APA on the side of international law by barring psychologists from working at Guantánamo, CIA black sites and other settings deemed illegal under the Geneva Conventions or the UN Convention Against Torture, unless they are working directly for the persons being detained or for an independent third party working to protect human rights. The vote came at the APA's first convention since the release of a report confirming the APA leadership actively colluded with the Pentagon and the CIA torture programs.
The sole dissenter was retired Col. Larry James, former top Army intelligence psychologist at Guantánamo and Abu Ghraib. We play highlights from the vote, including APA President-elect Susan McDaniel, and speak with two of the leading dissident psychologists who have been pushing the APA to reverse its stance on interrogations for nearly a decade, Steven Reisner and Stephen Soldz, founding members of the Coalition for an Ethical Psychology.
cont. http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/32287-world-s-largest-group-of-psychologists-bans-role-in-national-security-interrogations
"no surprising"...what?
What would be proof...you can't provide proof because the US does not sanction torture. Could some rogue people torture...sure. But is waterboarding torture...nope.
What would be proof...you can't provide proof because the US does not sanction torture. Could some rogue people torture...sure. But is waterboarding torture...nope.
That doesn't answer my question, no surprising.
Sorry that didn't happen.
What would be proof to you? A bloody beaten carcass?
No proof of real torture
Torture and Other Ill-Treatment
In the years since 9/11, the U.S. government has repeatedly violated both international and domestic prohibitions on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment in the name of fighting terrorism.
Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment must stop, and those responsible for authorizing and implementing it must be held accountable.
The UN Convention Against Torture defines torture as "…the intentional infliction of severe physical or mental pain or suffering for purposes such as obtaining information or a confession, or punishing, intimidating or coercing someone." Torture is always illegal. "No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture."
Abuse of prisoners doesn’t have to be torture to be illegal. Cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment (CID) is also illegal under international and U.S. law. CID includes any harsh or neglectful treatment that could damage a detainee’s physical or mental health or any punishment intended to cause physical or mental pain or suffering, or to humiliate or degrade the person being punished.
While it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between torture and CID, there are two key differences. First, torture constitutes a more severe degree of pain or suffering. Second, torture is the result of a deliberate and purposeful act aimed at imposing great suffering, while CID could be the result of accident or neglect. Both torture and CID are illegal.
In the years since 9/11, the U.S. government has repeatedly violated both international and domestic prohibitions on torture and CID in the name of fighting terrorism.
* The Bush Administration decided the Geneva Conventions would not apply to detainees held in Guantánamo Bay (a decision later overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court) Article III of the Geneva Convention
* The Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel produced a series of “torture memos,” which mutilated the law so as to restrict the definition of CID and to make certain torture practices seem legal under U.S. law;
* U.S. interrogations of suspects in the “war on terror” have included such cruel and inhuman techniques as prolonged isolation and sleep deprivation, intimidation by the use of a dog, sexual and other humiliation, stripping, hooding, the use of loud music, white noise, and exposure to extreme temperatures;
* The CIA used waterboarding – illegal as torture under international and U.S. law – to interrogate three “high-value” detainees;
* The U.S. began to send detainees for interrogation to countries known to use torture;
* President Bush admitted that several high-level officials in his Administration met secretly to authorize specific interrogation methods otherwise prohibited.
Numerous instances of torture and CID by U.S. personnel – confirmed by U.S. officials who took part in or witnessed these events – have been fed by a climate of impunity and the failure of either the executive branch or Congress to conduct a comprehensive, impartial, and independent investigation into detention policies and practices.
This has had a corrosive effect on respect for human rights around the world. The U.S. has lost influence over the behavior of other governments. U.S. misconduct has encouraged others to feel they have license to violate international law. And these practices make U.S. citizens vulnerable to abusive treatment when they are abroad.
Amnesty International is calling on the United States to adhere to its own professed values and help strengthen, instead of weaken, international compliance with universal standards of human rights.
http://www.amnestyusa.org/our-work/issues/torture
In the years since 9/11, the U.S. government has repeatedly violated both international and domestic prohibitions on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment in the name of fighting terrorism.
Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment must stop, and those responsible for authorizing and implementing it must be held accountable.
The UN Convention Against Torture defines torture as "…the intentional infliction of severe physical or mental pain or suffering for purposes such as obtaining information or a confession, or punishing, intimidating or coercing someone." Torture is always illegal. "No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture."
Abuse of prisoners doesn’t have to be torture to be illegal. Cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment (CID) is also illegal under international and U.S. law. CID includes any harsh or neglectful treatment that could damage a detainee’s physical or mental health or any punishment intended to cause physical or mental pain or suffering, or to humiliate or degrade the person being punished.
While it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between torture and CID, there are two key differences. First, torture constitutes a more severe degree of pain or suffering. Second, torture is the result of a deliberate and purposeful act aimed at imposing great suffering, while CID could be the result of accident or neglect. Both torture and CID are illegal.
In the years since 9/11, the U.S. government has repeatedly violated both international and domestic prohibitions on torture and CID in the name of fighting terrorism.
* The Bush Administration decided the Geneva Conventions would not apply to detainees held in Guantánamo Bay (a decision later overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court) Article III of the Geneva Convention
* The Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel produced a series of “torture memos,” which mutilated the law so as to restrict the definition of CID and to make certain torture practices seem legal under U.S. law;
* U.S. interrogations of suspects in the “war on terror” have included such cruel and inhuman techniques as prolonged isolation and sleep deprivation, intimidation by the use of a dog, sexual and other humiliation, stripping, hooding, the use of loud music, white noise, and exposure to extreme temperatures;
* The CIA used waterboarding – illegal as torture under international and U.S. law – to interrogate three “high-value” detainees;
* The U.S. began to send detainees for interrogation to countries known to use torture;
* President Bush admitted that several high-level officials in his Administration met secretly to authorize specific interrogation methods otherwise prohibited.
Numerous instances of torture and CID by U.S. personnel – confirmed by U.S. officials who took part in or witnessed these events – have been fed by a climate of impunity and the failure of either the executive branch or Congress to conduct a comprehensive, impartial, and independent investigation into detention policies and practices.
This has had a corrosive effect on respect for human rights around the world. The U.S. has lost influence over the behavior of other governments. U.S. misconduct has encouraged others to feel they have license to violate international law. And these practices make U.S. citizens vulnerable to abusive treatment when they are abroad.
Amnesty International is calling on the United States to adhere to its own professed values and help strengthen, instead of weaken, international compliance with universal standards of human rights.
http://www.amnestyusa.org/our-work/issues/torture
Yeah ok
I'd rather have my head cut off than be buried alive or be crucified or tied naked on an ant-hill of fire ants. So, in that broader context a beheading doesn't really sound so bad.
I see this type of reasoning (sic) as a type of moral relativism which never really gets anywhere near the truth.
I see this type of reasoning (sic) as a type of moral relativism which never really gets anywhere near the truth.
Tell me how the US has tortured people (in recent times). Loud music? making them get naked? making them fear they will get bit by a dog?
I would rather be naked, cold, listening to Justin beiber with a dog baking at me then having my head cut off by ISIS. But hey that's just me and my weird fetish.
I would rather be naked, cold, listening to Justin beiber with a dog baking at me then having my head cut off by ISIS. But hey that's just me and my weird fetish.
ROTFL~ tell me another joke or do you simply believe every bit of propaganda out there ?
USA does not torture.
Can't we keep to the topic at hand guys ?
Torture is against all of our human rights. It's been proven over and over that torturing people does not work in terms of getting true information.
Our psychologists are showing their humanity by refusing to give their stamp of approval on sadistic behavior.
Torture is against all of our human rights. It's been proven over and over that torturing people does not work in terms of getting true information.
Our psychologists are showing their humanity by refusing to give their stamp of approval on sadistic behavior.
Who here believes that this is going to change the way the CIA handles interrogations ?
Anyone ?
Anyone ?
Just looking for some accountability, V-Money! That's all I want. If you say you're going to do something, you're obligated to do that thing. Maybe politics is different.
Always have to bring Barry into it...ha ha.
Yup, now someone at GITMO is going to complain about being mentally ill and there are no psychologists to take care of them. Wait a second.... Wasn't Barry going to shut down GITMO? He said he was...
Another way to make America less safe, LOVE IT
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