Here in San Francisco, a group of psychologists are planning to hold a protest today over the refusal of the American Psychological Association to bar its members from participating in interrogations at military and CIA prisons.The protest is occurring on the opening day of the 115h annual APA convention. Unlike the American Medical Association and the American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological Association allows its members to participate in detainee interrogations.

APA representatives argue that the presence of psychologists keeps interrogations safe and prevents abuse. But in recent months, a string of exposes in Salon.com, Vanity Fair and the New Yorker have revealed that psychologists have played a key role in designing the CIA’s torture tactics.

Outraged APA members have introduced a moratorium resolution to be voted on this weekend. It calls for an outright ban on psychologist involvement in detainee interrogations. Dr. Stephen Soldz and Dr. Steven Reisner have been at the forefront of this effort. They are both members of the Coalition for an Ethical APA. They co-wrote an open letter to APA President Sharon Brehm in June of this year urging her to support the moratorium resolution. We invited the APA on the program but they declined our request.

• Dr. Stephen Soldz. Psychoanalyst, psychologist, public health researcher, and professor at the Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis. He is a founder of Psychoanalysts for Peace and Justice and maintains the Psyche, Science, and Society blog.

• Dr. Steven Reisner. Psychoanalyst and a member of the American Psychological Association. He is a faculty member at NYU Medical School and a faculty adviser at the International Trauma Studies Program at Columbia University.

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