Stephen Soldz Articles on Torture and Interrogations
[Last updated September 4, 2010.]
Note: Many of these had were posted in more than one, often many, distinct web sites. Generally only one is listed. This list does not include statement/articles/press releases issued by the Coalition for an Ethical Psychology, on which I was coauthor.
2004
Abuse at Abu Ghraib, the Psychodynamics of Occupation, and the Responsibility of Us All
Znet May 1, 2004.
http://www.zcommunications.org/abuse-at-abu-ghraib-the-psychodynamics-of-occupation-and-the-responsibility-of-us-all-by-stephen-ssoldz
2005
The Psychodynamics of Occupation and the Abuse at Abu Ghraib
Discourse of Sociological Practice, Volume 6, Issue 1,pp. 23-35, 2007.
Also available from ZNet April 5, 2005.
http://www.zcommunications.org/the-psychodynamics-of-occupation-and-the-abuse-at-abu-ghraib-by-stephen-ssoldz
2006
Psychologists, Guantanamo and Torture: A Profession Struggles to Save Its Soul
CounterPunch, August 1, 2006.
http://www.counterpunch.org/soldz08012006.html
American Medical Association emphasizes interrogation policy differences with APA
OpEdNews, August 28, 2006.
http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/print_friendly.php?p=opedne_stephen__060828_american_medical_ass.htm
Protecting the Torturers: Bad Faith and Distortions From the American Psychological Association
CounterPunch, September 6, 2006.
http://www.counterpunch.org/soldz09062006.html
A Defining Difference Between Psychiatrist and Psychologists: Abusive Interrogations
CounterPunch, December 12, 2006.
http://www.counterpunch.org/soldz12122006.html
2007
Positive Illusions and the Necessity of a Bright Line Forbidding Psychologist Involvement in Detainee Interrogations
Brad Olson & Stephen Soldz, Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy (ASAP), Volume 7, Issue 1, December 2007.
[pdf available from me.]
Aid and Comfort for Torturers: Psychology and Coercive Interrogations in Historical Perspective
Common Dreams, April 15, 2007
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/04/15/527
Note: This essay is the text of a talk delivered, March 17, 2007 at a Psychoanalytic Institute of Northern California (PINC) conference.
Defense Department Releases Evidence of Central Role of Psychologists in Guantánamo and Iraq Interrogation Abuse: Inspector General documents role of Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE) techniques
Scoop [New Zealand], May 31, 2007.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0705/S00513.htm
CounterPunch
http://counterpunch.org/soldz05292007.html
Life in a CIA Torture Center
ZNet, June 11, 2007.
http://www.zcommunications.org/life-in-a-cia-torture-center-by-stephen-ssoldz
Psychologists and CIA Torture
RINF.com, August 5, 2007.
http://rinf.com/alt-news/latest-news/psychologists-and-cia-torture/943/
Why Mary Pipher Returned Her APA Award
CounterPunch, August 25/26, 2007.
http://counterpunch.org/soldz08252007.html
American Psychological Association Writes the Administration and Congress Criticizing Torture: Modest Progress
OpEdNews, November 5, 2007.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_stephen__071105_american_psychologic.htm
Guantanamo document confirms psychological torture (with Julian Assange)
Wikileaks, November 17, 2007.
http://wikileaks.org/wiki/Guantanamo_document_confirms_psychological_torture
Also as
Isolation Torture Routine at Guantanamo: A How-To Manual for Psychological Torture
CounterPunch, November 21, 2007.
http://counterpunch.org/soldz11212007.html
The Facts be Damned!: Psychologists’ President Defends Psychologist Participation in Detainee Interrogations
OpEdNews, December 3, 2007.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_stephen__071203_the_facts_be_damned_21.htm
Did destroyed CIA tapes show psychologists torturing? Did APA dodge a bullet?
OpEdNews, December 7, 2007.
http://www.opednews.com//populum/page.php/opedne_stephen__071207_did_destroyed_cia_ta.htm?f=opedne_stephen__071207_did_destroyed_cia_ta.htm
Guantanamo staff trashing web sites and spreading propaganda
OpEdNews, December 12, 2007
http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_stephen__071212_guantanamo_staff_tra.htm
2008
Psychologists , Detainee Interrogations, and Torture: Varying Perspectives on Nonparticipation.
Stephen Soldz & Brad Olson. Chapter in Almerindo Ojeda (Ed.). The Trauma of Psychological Torture. Westport, CT: Praeger.
http://psychoanalystsopposewar.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/Soldz-Olson_VaryingPerspectivesOnNonparticipation_TPT_2008.pdf
The ethics of interrogation and the American Psychological Association: A critique of policy and process
Brad Olson, Stephen Soldz, and Martha Davis; Philosophy, Ethics, and Humanities in Medicine, January, 2008, Volume 3, Issue 3.
http://www.peh-med.com/content/3/1/3
“Att psykologer har förhindrat övergrepp mot fängslade är en fantasi” / “That psychologists have prevented abuse against detainees is a fantasy” [In Swedish and English]
Psykologernastidning [Swedish Journal of Psychology], No: 3/2008, pp. 12-13.
In Swedish: www.psykologforbundet.se/Psykologtidningen/PDFtidning/PT2008_03.pdf
Swedish and English was here, but the link is apparently dead: http://www.psykologforbundet.se/www/sp/hemsida.nsf/objectsload/Tortyr_swe_eng/$file/Tortyr_swe_eng.pdf [This version is available from me.]
Also available at: http://psychoanalystsopposewar.org/blog/2008/02/19/stephen-soldz-responds-to-questions-from-the-swedish-journal-of-psychology/
A Reaction to the APA Vote on Sealing Up Key Loopholes in the 2007 Resolution on Interrogations
Stephen Soldz and Brad Olson, ZNet, March 1, 2008.
http://www.zcommunications.org/a-reaction-to-the-apa-vote-on-sealing-up-key-loopholes-in-the-2007-resolution-on-interrogations-by-stephen-ssoldz
Involuntary Drugging of US Detainees: A Crisis for the Health Professions
Alternet, April 23, 2008.
http://www.alternet.org/rights/83292/
Isolation driving Guantanamo detainees insane: Will APA act?
OpEdNews, April 26, 2008.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_stephen__080426_isolation_driving_gu.htm
American Psychological Association Supports Psychologist Engagement in Bush Regime Interrogations: A Critique of Stephen Behnke’s Letter to the ACLU
CounterPunch, May 27, 2008.
http://counterpunch.org/soldz05272008.html
Accountability for torture at last?
OpEdNews, June 8, 2008.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Accountability-for-Torture-by-Stephen-Soldz-080608-236.html
Torture After Dark: Torture and the Strategic Helplessness of the American Psychological Association
Stephen Soldz, Brad Olson, Steven Reisner, Jean Maria Arrigo & Bryant Welch; CounterPunch, July 22, 2008.
http://counterpunch.org/soldz07232008.html
The Torture Trainers and the American Psychological Association
ZNet, June 25, 2008.
http://www.zcommunications.org/the-torture-trainers-and-the-american-psychological-association-by-stephen-ssoldz
Systematized sleep deprivation at Guantanamo persisted far longer than previously admitted
OpEdNews, August 8, 2008.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Systematized-sleep-depriva-by-Stephen-Soldz-080808-55.html
Vote Against Torture Collusion: Psychologists Vote on Referendum Against Participating in Bush Regime Detention Centers
ZNet, August 10, 2008.
http://www.zcommunications.org/vote-against-torture-collusion-by-stephen-ssoldz
Ending the psychological mind games on detainees
Boston Globe, August 10, 2008 [Op Ed].
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2008/08/10/ending_the_psychological_mind_games_on_detainees/
Healers or Interrogators: Psychology and the United States Torture Regime
Psychoanalytic Dialogues, Volume 18, Issue 5, September 2008 , pp. 592 – 613.
[pdf available from me.]
Defense Department issues statement opposing APA Referendum: “There are no neutrals there.”
Psyche, Science, and Society, August 22, 2008.
http://psychoanalystsopposewar.org/blog/2008/08/22/defense-department-issues-statement-opposing-apa-referendum-there-are-no-neutrals-there/
APA ban pressures US government to shut down enhanced interrogation program
Jurist, September 21, 2008.
http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/hotline/2008/09/apa-ban-pressures-us-government-to-shut.php
Psychologists Reject the Dark Side: American Psychological Association Members Reject Participation in Bush Detention Centers
Stephen Soldz & Brad Olson, Scoop, September 23, 2008.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0809/S00286.htm
Guantanamo’s SERE Standard Operating Procedures
Wikileaks, October 13, 2008.
http://wikileaks.org/wiki/Guantanamo%27s_SERE_Standard_Operating_Procedures
Psychologists Defying Torture: The Path Ahead
PsySR Herald: Psychologists for Social Responsibility’s Online Newsletter, November, 2008 Vol. 2, No. 1.
http://www.psysr.org/newsletter
Article extracted as separate pdf: http://psychoanalystsopposewar.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/Soldz-PsychologistsDefyTorrture-PathAhead_PsySR_Herald_Nov_2008.pdf
Psychologists to Obama: Don’t Name Torture Apologist John Brenner CIA Director
An open letter from 200 psychologists and allies who are urging Obama not to select John Brennan to be Director of the CIA.
Alternet, November 25, 2008.
http://www.alternet.org/rights/108504/psychologists_to_obama:_don%27t_name_torture_apologist_john_brenner_cia_director/
[This letter was credited by some observers as playing a major role in preventing Brennan from being appointed CIA Director. cf. Associated Press: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hdq4l-aPypVVQ4vbi_5nkYk6OO3AD94MI5Q00]
A response to the APA from a member of the APA: The American Psychological Association and Abusive Detention Center Policy: Progress Despite Stiff Opposition
Torture, 2008, Volume 18, Issue 3, 187-192.
http://doc.rct.dk/doc/tort2008.3.4.pdf
2009
Closing Eyes to Atrocities: U.S. Psychologists, Detainee Interrogations, and Response of the American Psychological Association
Chapter in: Roseman, M. & Goodman, R. (Eds.), (2009). Interrogations, Forced Feedings, and the Role of Health Professionals: New Perspectives on International Human Rights, Humanitarian Law and Ethics, Cambridge, Harvard University Press.
http://psychoanalystsopposewar.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/Soldz_ClosingEyesToAtrocities_HLS_Book.pdf
Official Reports Disagree With James’ Defense of Psychologists in Detention Centers
National Psychologist, January-February 2009, p. 5.
http://psychoanalystsopposewar.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/NationalPsychologist_SoldzCritiqueOfJames_JanFeb2009_p5.pdf
Torture of Abu Zubaida, designed by psychologists, yielded nothing
OpEdNews, March 29, 2009.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/2/Torture-of-Abu-Zubaida-de-by-Stephen-Soldz-090329-83.html
John Brennan and the administration stalling on Bush torture memos
OpEdNews, April 1, 2009.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/John-Brennan-and-the-admin-by-Stephen-Soldz-090401-256.html
Obama and human rights: Shame on me
OpEdNews, April 11, 2009.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Obama-and-human-rights-Sh-by-Stephen-Soldz-090411-543.html
Obama, Blair, Panetta and the Torture Memos: Praising Moral Cowards, Ignoring Real Heroes
CounterPunch, April 20, 2009.
http://counterpunch.org/soldz04212009.html
Bioethicist Steven Miles joins call for investigation of American Psychological Association ties to military
OpEdNews, April 27, 2009.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Bioethicist-Steven-Miles-j-by-Stephen-Soldz-090427-149.html
New article elucidates military psychologists’ complicity in detainee abuse and “ethics” coverup
OpEdNews, May 6, 2009.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/New-article-elucidates-mil-by-Stephen-Soldz-090506-625.html
A “Natural Reaction”? APA Ethics Policy-Maker Endorses Torture
CounterPunch, May 6, 2009.
http://counterpunch.org/soldz05062009.html
“Sleep deprivation”: Euphemism and CIA torture of choice
OpEdNews, May 10, 2009.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/-Sleep-deprivation–Euph-by-Stephen-Soldz-090510-130.html
APA ethics policy-maker clarifies defense of torture; reveals American Psychological Association – Pentagon collusion
ZNet, May 20, 2009.
http://www.zcommunications.org/apa-ethics-policy-maker-clarifies-defense-of-torture-provides-new-evidence-of-american-psychological-association-pentagon-collusion-by-stephen-ssoldz
Former American Psychological Association President had long time CIA connection
OpEdNews, June 18, 2009.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Former-American-Psychologi-by-Stephen-Soldz-090618-554.html
Can the American Psychological Association Break With Torture Collusion?
ACLU Blog of Rights, June 24, 2009.
http://www.aclu.org/2009/06/24/can-the-american-psychological-association-break-with-torture-collusion/
Will the American Psychological Association finally renounce the Nuremberg Defense?
Scoop, July 29, 2009.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0907/S00470.htm
The American Psychological Association and the Missing Ethics Investigation: How APA Suppressed an Ethics Complaint and Appointed the Accused to Formulate Ethics Policy on Torture
ZNet, July 30, 2009.
http://www.zcommunications.org/the-american-psychological-association-and-the-missing-ethics-investigation-by-stephen-ssoldz
Military letter to the APA: Drop the Nuremberg Defense from psychologist ethics code
OpEdNews, August 5, 2009.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Military-letter-to-the-APA-by-Stephen-Soldz-090805-820.html
UN Special Rapporteur on Torture on Torture Calls on American Psychological Association to Withdraw Psychologists from Guantánamo Detention Camp
OpEdNews, August 12, 2009.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/UN-Special-Rapporteur-Call-by-Stephen-Soldz-090812-362.html
Psychologist Accused of War Crimes Opposes Investigations: The Case of Col. Larry James
CounterPunch, September 8, 2009.
http://counterpunch.org/soldz09082009.html
APA Challenged: Members file complaint charging procedural irregularities on abusive interrogations policy
ZNet, October 30, 2009.
http://www.zcommunications.org/apa-challenged-by-stephen-ssoldz
The “Ethical Interrogation”: The Myth of Michael Gelles and the al-Qahtani Interrogation
Truthout, December 21, 2009.
http://www.truth-out.org/1221091
2010
The Guantánamo Suicides: Murder and Cover-Up
CounterPunch, January 19, 2010.
http://counterpunch.org/soldz01192010.html
The Seven Paragraphs: Released Binyan Mohamed Abuse Evidence Poses Problems for Both British and US Governments
ZNet, February 11, 2010.
http://www.zcommunications.org/the-seven-paragraphs-by-stephen-soldz
Justice Department protects the torture lawyers, persecutes the ethical
OpEdNews, February 24, 2010.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Justice-Department-protect-by-Stephen-Soldz-100224-5.html
APA Removes Its Infamous “Nuremberg Defense”: But leaves other ethics loopholes
ZNet, March 4, 2010.
http://www.zcommunications.org/apa-removes-its-infamous-nuremberg-defense-by-stephen-soldz
The “Black Jail”: Obama’s Afghan Torture Center and the American Psychological Association
CounterPunch, May 21-23, 2010.
http://counterpunch.org/soldz05212010.html
Experiments in Torture: Human Subject Research and Evidence of Experimentation in the ‘Enhanced’ Interrogation Program
Physicians for Human Rights, June 10, 2010.
[I am one of seven coauthors of this report.]
http://phrtorturepapers.org/
Shocking New Report: The CIA Performed Human Experiments on Prisoners Under Bush
Alternet, June 7, 2010.
http://www.alternet.org/rights/147121/experiments_in_torture:_how_cia_doctors_turned_terror_suspects_into_human_lab_rats
Coalition files Office of Human Research Protections Complaint: Investigate CIA Research
OpEdNews, June 10, 2010.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Coalition-Files-Office-of-by-Stephen-Soldz-100610-459.html
June 26, is the United Nations’ International Day in Support of Victims of Torture
Stephen Soldz & Steven Reisner, San Francisco Chronicle: The Opinion Shop, June 25, 2010.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/opinionshop/detail?entry_id=66645
The CIA’s Torture Research Program
International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT), Preventing Torture Within the Fight Against Terrorism, July 2010, Volume 4, Issue 2, pp. 1-2.
pdf: http://www.irct.org/Admin/Public/DWSDownload.aspx?File=%2fFiles%2fFiler%2fpublications%2fTorture_terror%2fTorture+%26amp%3b+Terror+Newsletter+18.pdf
Psychologists defying torture: The challenge and the path ahead
Chapter in: Adrienne Harris & Steven Botticelli (eds.) (2010). First do no harm: The paradoxical encounters of psychoanalysis, warmaking, and resistance. New York: Routledge, pp. 67-105.
Psychologists, Torture, and Civil Society
Chapter to appear in Marjorie Cohn (ed.) (forthcoming). The United States and Torture, New York: New York University Press.