Psyche, Science, and Society

APA writes President Bush: Psychologists do not belong in the illegal detention centers

October 2nd, 2008

In a MAJOR development today, APA President Alan Kazdin wrote President Bush to inform him of the new APA policy from the referendum passed two weeks ago:

“The effect of this new policy is to prohibit psychologists from any involvement in interrogations or any other operational procedures at detention sites that are in violation of the U.S. Constitution or international law (e.g., the Geneva Conventions and the U.N. Convention Against Torture),”

The full letter is available here.

This is a truly wonderful development! We have worked for years for this day and should all be proud. And President Kazdin deserves credit for stepping up and doing the right thing.

We have many struggles ahead of us, for investigation of the roles of psychologists in detainee abuse, for accountability, for implementing the AMA/A Psychiatric A policy removing psychologists from all detainee interrogations, and for changes within the APA to prevent a recurrence when the next crisis hits.

But today is truly a day of celebration. A few highly principled people stood up and changed history. We should be proud and the APA should be proud.

Entry Filed under: APA, Bush administration, CIA, Guantanamo, Interrogation, Psychology, Torture, Uncategorized