Psyche, Science, and Society

Mike Huckabee’s Message to Iowa

A little late, but better late than never:

Add comment January 10th, 2008

Les Roberts on new Iraq mortality study

Les Roberts, an author of the two previous Lancet studies of Iraq mortality,  sends the following comments on the new Iraq mortality study, the Iraq Family Health Survey, that I blogged about last night:

I think that this new article in the NEJM is a good addition to the discussion. It is good for Iraqis, it is good for science, it is good for promoting peace.

1) There is far more in common in the results than appears at first glance.

The NEJM article found a doubling of mortality after the invasion, we found a 2.4 fold increase. They found a CMR of 3/1000/yr. before and 6 after but thought they were missing almost 1/2 the deaths. We found a CMR of 5 before and 13 after….thus we actually agree roughly on the number of excess deaths. The big difference is that we found almost all the increase from violence, they found 1/3 the increase from violence.

The other odd items (family size, refusal rates, absentee household rates, fraction of deaths from infectous diseases and car accidents…) are strikingly similar.

IBC adds to their estimate for months after a given date; back at the end of June 2006, IBC estimated 41,000 deaths (my notes suggest 38,475 to 42,889 on June 24, 2006). This new estimate is 4 times the “widely accepted” number of that moment, our estimate was 12 times higher. Both studies suggest things are far worse than our leaders have reported.

2) There are reasons to suspect that the NEJM data had an under-reporting of violent deaths.

The death rate they recorded for before the invasion (and after) was very low….lower than neighboring countries and 1/3 of what WHO said the death rate was for Iraq back in 2002.

The last time this group (COSIT) did a mortality survey like this they also found a very low crude death rate and when they revisited the exact same homes a second time and just asked about child deaths, they recorded almost twice as many. Thus, the past record suggests people do not want to report deaths to these government employees.

We confirmed our deaths with death certificates, they did not. As the NEJM study’s interviewers worked for one side in this conflict, it is likely that people would be unwilling to admit violent deaths to the study workers.

They roughly found a steady rate of violence from 2003 - 2006. Baghdad morgue data, Najaf burial data, Pentagon attack data, and our data all show a dramatic increase over 2005 and 2006.

Finally, their data suggests 1/6th of deaths over the occupation through 6/06 were from violence. Our data suggest a majority of deaths were from violence. All graveyard reports I have heard are consistent with our results.

I hope these comments are helpful. I hope people in the press will visit a few  graveyards/morgues/hospitals and decide if 1/6th or over 1/2 of the deaths during the period 2003-06.

Best regards,

Les Roberts

5 comments January 10th, 2008

Action Opportunity for California Residents: Get health professionals out of interrogations!

This is an urgent opportunity for action for residents of California who are concerned about the role of psychologists and other health professionals in torture and abuse of U.S. detainees.

A broad coalition of health, human rights, and legal organizations in California are working to encourage the State of California to:

Notify all state-licensed health professionals of their legal and professional obligations not to participate in torture.

Notify them that participants in torture may be subject to prosecution.

Request that the U.S. Department of Defense and the CIA remove all California-licensed health professionals, including psychologists, from participating in prisoner interrogations.

If you would like to know more about this initiative, or sign a related online petition, go to the following web page, posted by the American Friends Service Committee:

http://www.afsc-pswro.org/crm/licensingpetition.php?

The California State Senate will be holding a hearing on Monday afternoon, Jan. 14th, on a proposed resolution on this matter. Contact the California State Senate Committee on Business, Professions and Economic Development, at 916-651-4104, for more information about that resolution and hearing.

Daily Kos blogger Valtin has more information on this. Go read his post. From it I reproduce the actual bill:

AUTHORS COPY
10/15/07 08:1OAM
58048 RN 07 29989 PAGE 1
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST
as introduced, Ridley-Thomas.

General Subject: Health professionals: torture.

This measure would request all relevant California agencies to notify
California-licensed health professionals about their professional obligations under international law relating to torture and the treatment of detainees, as specified, and to also notify those professionals that those who participate in torture, among other forms of treatment, may be subject to prosecution. In addition, the measure would request the United States Department of Defense and the Central Intelligence Agency to remove all California-licensed health professionals from participating in prisoner and detainee interrogations

Fiscal committee: yes.

WHEREAS, Health professionals licensed in California, including, but not limited to, physicians, osteopaths, psychologists, psychiatric workers, and nurses, have and continue to serve nobly and honorably in the armed services of the United States; and

WHEREAS, United States Army regulations and the War Crimes Act and, relative to the treatment of prisoners of war, Common Article III of the Geneva Conventions and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) require that all military personnel report and not engage in acts of abuse or torture; and

WHEREAS, CAT defines the term “torture” as “any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity”; and

WHEREAS, In 2002, the United States Department of Justice reinterpreted national and international law related to the treatment of prisoners of war in a manner that purported to justify long-prohibited interrogation methods and treatment of detainees; and

WHEREAS, Physicians and other medical personnel and psychologists serving in noncombat roles are bound by international law and professional ethics to care for enemy prisoners and to report any evidence of coercion, or abuse of detainees; and

WHEREAS, The World Medical Association (WMA) issued guidelines stating that physicians shall not use nor allow to be used their medical knowledge or skills, or health information specific to individuals, to facilitate or otherwise aid any interrogation, legal or illegal; and

WHEREAS, The guidelines issued by the WMA also state that physicians shall not participate in or facilitate torture or other forms of cruel, inhuman, or degrading procedures of prisoners or detainees in any situations; and

WHEREAS, The American Medical Association’s (AMA) ethical policy prohibits physicians from conducting or directly participating in an interrogation and from monitoring interrogations with the intention of intervening; and

WHEREAS, AMA policy also states that “(t)orture refers to the deliberate, systematic or wanton administration of cruel, inhumane > and degrading treatments or punishments during imprisonment or detainment. Physicians must oppose and must not participate in torture for any reason … Physicians should help provide support for victims of torture and, whenever possible, strive to change the situation in which torture is practiced or the potential for torture is great”; and

WHEREAS, In May 2006, the American Psychiatric Association stated that psychiatrists should not “participate directly in the interrogation of persons held in custody by military or civilian investigative or law enforcement authorities, whether in the United States or elsewhere,” and that “psychiatrists should not participate in, or otherwise assist or facilitate, the commission of torture of any person. Psychiatrists who become aware that torture has occurred, is occurring, or has been planned must report it promptly to a person or persons in a position to take corrective action”; and

WHEREAS, In August 2006, the American Psychological Association stated ___ that “psychologists shall not knowingly participate in any procedure in which torture ___ or other forms of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or cruel, inhuman, or degrading punishment is used or threatened” and that “should torture or other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or cruel, inhuman, or degrading punishment evolve during a procedure where a psychologist is present, the psychologist shall attempt to intervene to stop such behavior, and failing that exit the procedure”; and

WHEREAS, In June 2005, the House of Delegates of the American Nurses Association issued a resolution stating all of the following: “prisoners and detainees have the right to health care and humane treatment”; “registered nurses shall not voluntarily participate in any deliberate infliction of physical or mental suffering”; “registered nurses who have knowledge of ill- treatment of any individuals including detainees and prisoners must take appropriate action to safeguard the rights of that individual”; “the American Nurses Association shall condemn interrogation procedures that are harmful to mental and physical health”; “the American Nurses Association shall advocate for nondiscriminatory access to health care for wounded military and paramilitary personnel and prisoners of war”; and “the American Nurses Association shall counsel and support nurses who speak out about acts of torture and abuse”; and

WHEREAS, In March 2005, the California Medical Association stated that it “condemns any participation in, cooperation with, or failure to report by physicians and other health professionals the mental or physical abuse, sexual degradation, or torture of prisoners or detainees”; and

WHEREAS, In November 2004, the American Public Health Association stated that it “condemns any participation in, cooperation with, or failure to report by health professionals the mental or physical abuse, sexual degradation, or torture of prisoners or detainees:’ that it “urges health professionals to report abuse or torture of prisoners and detainees;’ and that it “supports the rights of health workers to be protected from retribution for refusing to participate or cooperate in abuse or torture in military settings”; and

WHEREAS, The United States military medical system in Guantanamo Bay, Afghanistan, Iraq, and other United States operated foreign military prisons failed to protect detainees’ rights to medical treatment, failed to prevent disclosure of confidential medical information to interrogators and others, failed to promptly report injuries or deaths caused by beatings, failed to report acts of psychological and sexual degradation, and sometimes collaborated with abusive interrogators and guards; and

WHEREAS, Current United States Department of Defense guidelines authorize the participation of certain military health personnel, especially psychologists, in the interrogation of detainees as members of “Behavioral Science Consulting Teams” in violation of professional ethics. These guidelines also permit the use of confidential clinical information from medical records to aid in interrogations and

WHEREAS, Evidence in the public record indicates that military psychologists participated in the design and implementation of psychologically abusive interrogation methods used at Guantanamo Bay, in Iraq, and elsewhere, including sleep deprivation, long-term isolation, sexual and cultural humiliation, forced nudity, induced hypothermia and other temperature extremes, stress positions, sensory bombardment, manipulation of phobias, force-feeding hunger strikers, and more; and

WHEREAS, Published reports indicate that the so-called “enhanced interrogation methods” of the Central Intelligence Agency reportedly include similar abusive methods and that agency psychologists may have assisted in their development; and

WHEREAS, Medical and psychological studies and clinical experience show that these abuses can cause severe or serious mental pain and suffering in their victims, and therefore may violate the “torture” and “cruel and inhuman treatment” provisions of CAT and the United States War Crimes Act, as amended by the Military Commissions Act of 2006; and

WHEREAS, The United States Department of Defense has failed to oversee the ethical conduct of California-licensed health professionals related to torture; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate and the Assembly of the State of California, jointly, That the Legislature hereby requests all relevant California agencies, including, but not limited to, the Board of Behavioral Sciences, the Dental Board of California, the Medical Board of California, the Osteopathic Medical Board of California, the California State Board of Pharmacy, the Physician Assistant Committee of the Medical Board of California, the California Board of Pediatric Medicine, the Board of vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians, the Board of Psychology, and the Board of Registered Nursing, to notify California-licensed health professionals via newsletter, email, and Web site about their professional obligations under international law, specifically Common Article HI of the Geneva Conventions, the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and the amended War Crimes Act, which prohibit the torture of and the cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment or punishment of detainees in United States custody; and be it further __

Resolved, That the Legislature hereby requests all relevant California agencies ___ to notify health professionals licensed in California that those who participate in torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment may one day be subject to prosecution; and be it further

Resolved. That the Legislature hereby requests the United States Department of Defense and the Central Intelligence Agency to remove all California-licensed health professionals, including, but not limited to, physicians and psychologists, from participating in any way in prisoner and detainee interrogations, in view of their respective ethical obligations, the record of abusive interrogation practices, and the Legislature’s interest in protecting California health professionals from the risk of criminal liability; and be it further

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the United States Department of Defense, the Central Intelligence Agency, and all relevant California agencies, including, but not limited to, the Board of Behavioral Sciences, the Dental Board of California. the Medical Board of California, the Osteopathic Medical Board of California, the California State Board of Pharmacy, the Physician Assistant Committee of the Medical Board of California, the California Board of Pediatric Medicine, the Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians, the Board of Psychology, and the Board of Registered Nursing.

The American Psychological Association is working to weaken this bill to meaninglessness. It is up to concerned health providers in California to organize to see that doesn’t happen.

3 comments January 10th, 2008

Psychologists for Social Responsibility joins call to Shut Down Guantanamo!

Psychologists for Social Responsibility, PsySR, are supporting the International Day of Action to Shut Down Guantanamo this Friday, January 11th. Here is the PsySR statement:

PSYCHOLOGISTS FOR SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

208 I St. NE, Washington, DC 20002, Tel: 202-543-5347 www.psysr.org

FOR RELEASE: January 11, 2008, 10:00 am
CONTACT: Jill Flores (cell): 512-393-7173; Colleen Cordes: 202-543-5347

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF ACTION

PSYCHOLOGISTS IN WASHINGTON, DC
AND ACROSS THE NATION DEMAND TODAY:

– SHUT DOWN GUANTÁNAMO! –

END SIX YEARS OF TORTURE & OTHER HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Psychologists for Social Responsibility joins Witness Against Torture, Amnesty USA, the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, and others today in an International Day of Action to demand the closure of the U.S. prison at Guantánamo Bay. PsySR and other advocates for justice will gather for a 10 a.m. rally on the National Mall and a march to the Supreme Court. Some participants will march in orange jumpsuits and black hoods, symbolically bringing Guantánamo’s detainees before the high court.

Elsewhere today, in more than 40 other cities around the world, thousands of others will also be speaking out to demand an end to torture and the indefinite, illegal, and immoral detention of men and boys at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantánamo.

It has been six long years since the first hooded, shackled men were brought to the U.S. prison at Guantánamo. Not a single prisoner has been convicted of a charge of terrorism. Many have been released because no evidence was found against them. Yet nearly 300 men remain in indefinite detention without hope of release. Today, PsySR stands with thousands of others against the abuse of prisoners, against the involvement of psychologists in abusive interrogations and abusive detainments, and for law and justice.

Psychologists for Social Responsibility is deeply opposed to the mistreatment, abuse, and illegal detention of prisoners held at US military, CIA, or other sites:

• Denying prisoners due process – such as habeas corpus, legal representation, and access to the International Red Cross – is contrary to the US constitution and international law.

• Interrogation practices that involve torture or other abusive treatment are immoral, unethical, and violate international human rights standards. They threaten national security, generate false information, and fuel terrorism.

• President Bush’s Executive Order of July 2007 allows the CIA to use “enhanced techniques” in interrogations, making likely the further abuse of prisoners and violations of law and morality.

We consider psychologists operating where these practices occur to be complicit, even if unwillingly, in human rights abuses. We consider any psychologist consulting on, designing, or participating in interrogations involving abusive treatment to be in violation of our professional ethics to do no harm.

Psychologists for Social Responsibility, therefore:

• CALLS ON ALL CITIZENS to urge Congress to restore principles of due process, including habeas corpus, for all foreign detainees.

• URGES the American Psychological Association to clarify that psychologists should not participate in any way in national security or military interrogations, due to their secrecy, lack of due process, evidence of torture and abuse, and the fact that they occur in sites operating outside Geneva principles.

• URGES the American Psychological Association to rewrite its Ethics Code to place professional ethics above an employer’s ethics and national law, if the latter sets a lower standard; and to develop legal and career supports for psychologists who refuse to engage in interrogation or who report abuses.

• SUPPORTS the closure of Guantánamo Bay and other secretive detention sites and the transfer of prisoners to sites in the U.S. that transparently observe due process & other international human rights standards & laws.

JOIN PSYSR TODAY – VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT WWW.PSYSR.ORG

For more information on the International Day of Action and the campaign to
SHUT DOWN GUANTÁNAMO, please visit www.witnesstorture.org

Add comment January 10th, 2008