New developments concerning torture and other forms of maltreatment of detainees

The story of the development and implementation of the use of torture, including psychological forms of torture, by U.S. forces has become clearer as internal Defense Department reports are declassified and participants speak up. It is now known that psychologists who were involved with a program designed to train American soldiers to resist forms of torture such as isolation, sleep deprivation, stress positions, threats, and severe humilitation, began redesigning these techniques for offensive use in interrogation. The methods gained the approval of officials at the highest levels of the command structure. This presentation will review the evolution of these techniques as a means of interrogation at Guantanamo and, later, Iraq; the role of psychologists in developing them; the ethical implications of health professionals involvement in their emergence and use; the response of professional organizations; and the current status of both the techniques and reliance on health professionals in U.S. policy on interrogation.