Steven Miles on APA revised torture ban
March 19th, 2008
Bioethicist Steven Miles sends the following comment on the American Psychological Association revision of its 2007 resolution against torture, and blogger Valtin’s comments on the change:
Valtin is correct. The February 22 APA statement entirely conforms to current US policy of lip service in public and war crimes in private.
* It accepts the US “reservations” to the Convention Against Torture, reservations that have been internationally condemned, reservations which define torture within US jurisprudence not international law, and reservations which permit any other country to de-internationalize definitions of torture. Some countries for example, have signed the Convention Against Torture with the reservation that corporeal shaaria punishments are not torture.
* It affirms the US Military Commissions Act which accepts the unacceptable novel category of “illegal combatants,” denies such persons the legal protections of the Geneva Conventions, and empowers the President to define the meaning of the terms of the Geneva Conventions.
* It does not dissociate psychologists from coercive interrogations.
The current APA statement is a disgrace.
Entry Filed under: APA,Human Rights,International Law,Interrogation,Law,Psychology,Torture
2 Comments
1. jess | March 19th, 2008 at 11:55 am
We are a torture treatment center in San Diego, Survivors of Torture, International. Last year Dr. Miles spoke at our annual event. His hard work and dedication to the field of torture treatment has developed his insightful opinion. Thank you for highlighting his statements.
2. Arrigo-DeBatto: An Intell&hellip | March 19th, 2008 at 2:20 pm
[...] on the February revision , see those by Brad Olson and myself; those by Valtin; and those by Steven Miles that I posted this [...]