{"id":49924,"date":"2014-11-18T11:12:26","date_gmt":"2014-11-18T11:12:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=49924"},"modified":"2015-05-05T21:29:30","modified_gmt":"2015-05-05T20:29:30","slug":"psychologists-are-rethinking-their-cozy-relationship-with-bush-torture-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2014\/11\/psychologists-are-rethinking-their-cozy-relationship-with-bush-torture-program\/","title":{"rendered":"Psychologists Are Rethinking Their Cozy Relationship with Bush Torture Program"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"psychologists<\/a><\/p>\n

14 Nov 2014 – <\/em>The top professional organization for psychologists is launching an independent\u00a0investigation over how it may have sanctioned the\u00a0brutal interrogation methods used against terror suspects by the Bush administration. The American Psychological Association announced<\/a> this week that it has tapped\u00a0an unaffiliated lawyer, David Hoffman, to lead the review.<\/p>\n

In 2002, the American Psychological Association (APA) revised its code of ethics to allow practitioners to follow the \u201cgoverning legal authority\u201d in situations that seemed at odds with their duties as health professionals.\u00a0Many argue that the\u00a0revision, as well as\u00a0a task force report in 2005 that affirmed that the code allowed psychologists to participate in national security interrogations, gave the Bush administration critical legal cover for torture.<\/p>\n

The APA has since\u00a0removed\u00a0the just-following-orders excuse from its\u00a0code, disavowed\u00a0the 2005 report, and\u00a0gone to lengths to distance themselves<\/a> from the controversy.<\/p>\n

But it\u00a0reopened last\u00a0month, when\u00a0New York Times\u00a0<\/em>reporter James Risen\u2019s book \u201cPay Any Price<\/a>\u201d revealed e-mails from the files of a deceased CIA contractor, Scott Gerwehr,\u00a0showing close contact\u00a0between the intelligence establishment and leadership at the APA. The emails centered particularly on the 2005 report\u00a0and suggested that members of the Bush Administration were involved in its conception and drafting.<\/p>\n

Nathaniel Raymond, a\u00a0human rights researcher who also had access to Gerwehr\u2019s emails, told The Intercept<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>in October that he had submitted the emails to the FBI as evidence of criminal racketeering. A law\u00a0enforcement official confirmed to The Intercept<\/em>\u00a0that the FBI in Washington had reviewed Raymond\u2019s\u00a0materials, but\u00a0\u201cdid not find any criminal violations.\u201d\u00a0Raymond, who previously directed the Campaign Against Torture at Physicians for Human Rights,\u00a0called the review a \u201cpositive first step\u201d and said\u00a0that he would share his complaint and any other information\u00a0with Hoffman.<\/p>\n

Hoffman\u2019s review appears broader than just the allegations\u00a0from Risen\u2019s book. The APA said it would\u00a0look into\u00a0\u201cwhether there is any factual support for the assertion that APA engaged in activity that would constitute collusion with the Bush administration to promote, support or facilitate the use of \u2018enhanced\u2019 interrogation techniques.\u201d<\/p>\n

________________________________<\/p>\n

Photo: Brennan Linsley\/AP<\/em><\/p>\n

Email the author: cora.currier@theintercept.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 firstlook.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The American Psychological Association is launching an independent investigation over how it may have sanctioned the brutal interrogation methods used against terror suspects by the Bush administration. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49924","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-anglo-america"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49924","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49924"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49924\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49924"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49924"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49924"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}