APA Approves Measure Banning Psychologists From Interrogations

APA officials initially suggested they would delay implementing the referendum for up to a year. But in a surprise move, APA president Alan Kazdin recently wrote President Bush to inform him of the decision.

The letter says: “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… In such unlawful detention settings, persons are deprived of basic human rights and legal protections, including the right to independent judicial review of their detention… There have been many reports, from credible sources, of torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment of detainees during your term in office. Therefore, the American Psychological Association strongly calls on you and your administration to safeguard the physical and psychological welfare and human rights of individuals incarcerated by the U.S. government in such detention centers and to investigate their treatment to ensure that the highest ethical standards are being upheld.”

The referendum was spearheaded by a dissident APA group called the Coalition for an Ethical Psychology. I am joined now by a member of the group who helped draft the referendum text. Dan Aalbers joins us from Reno, Nevada. Welcome to Democracy Now.

Dan Aalbers, psychologist and member of the dissident APA group called the Coalition for an Ethical Psychology