Pentagon Curbs Use of Psychologists With Guantánamo Detainees
The United States prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, in 2010. Psychologists no
longer observe or are involved with detainee interviews at Guantánamo, or
provide any feedback to the American military on detainee behavior.
BRENNAN LINSLEY / ASSOCIATED PRESS
By JAMES RISEN
December 31, 2015
WASHINGTON The United States military has sharply curtailed the use of
psychologists at the prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, in response to strict
new professional ethics rules of the American Psychological Association,
Pentagon officials said.
Gen. John F. Kelly, the head of the United States Southern Command, which
oversees Guantánamo, has ordered that psychologists be withdrawn from a wide
range of activities dealing with detainees at the prison because of the new
rules of the association, the nations largest professional organization for
psychologists. The group approved the rules this past summer.
General Kellys order is the latest fallout after years of recriminations in
the profession for the crucial role that psychologists played in the
post-9/11 programs of harsh interrogation created by the C.I.A. and the
Pentagon. The psychologists involvement in the interrogations enabled the
Justice Department in the George W. Bush administration to issue secret
legal opinions that declared that the C.I.A.s so-called enhanced
interrogation program was legal, in part because health professionals were
monitoring it to make sure that it was safe and that it did not constitute
torture.
Anger in the profession about the role of the psychologists helped lead to
the new ethics rules.
Gen. John F. Kelly ordered the reduced role in response to new professional
ethics rules.
MOISES CASTILLO / ASSOCIATED PRESS
In 2015, six psychologists were assigned to Guantánamo at a time and given
rotating tours of duty, and as many as 12 psychologists served at Guantánamo
during the year, according to Col. Lisa Garcia, a spokeswoman for the
Southern Command.
Officials said that the order to pull psychologists out of detainee
operations at Guantánamo, issued about two weeks ago but not made public, is
intended to protect the psychologists from violating the new rules, which
could expose them to losing their licenses. Many states use the
psychological associations ethics code in their professional licensing
requirements for psychologists.
These psychologists are licensed for independent practice and are
volunteers at Guantánamo, Cmdr. Karin Burzynski of the Navy, a spokeswoman
for the Southern Command, said in a statement. They are bound by their
respective professional organizations ethical guidelines, and General Kelly
will not jeopardize them losing their credentials.
The new rules bar psychologists from any involvement in national security
interrogations, and also bar them from providing mental health services to
detainees at sites like Guantánamo that the United Nations has determined do
not comply with international human rights law. Currently, no interrogations
take place at Guantánamo, Commander Burzynski said, and instead only
voluntary interviews are conducted when a detainee asks to speak with
American personnel.
Graphic | A History of the C.I.A.s Secret Interrogation Program The Central
Intelligence Agency used waterboarding, sleep deprivation and other
techniques on dozens of the men it detained in secret prisons between 2002
and 2008.
As a result of General Kellys order, psychologists at Guantánamo no longer
observe or are involved with detainee interviews, or provide any feedback to
the American military on detainee behavior, according to Commander
Burzynski.
The psychologists have also been removed from the prisons Behavioral Health
Unit, which is responsible for detainee mental health programs, and from the
prisons so-called detainee socialization programs.
At Guantánamo, psychiatrists, Navy corpsmen and nurses specializing in
mental health have replaced the psychologists to provide mental health
treatment for detainees. Psychologists will still provide mental health care
for American military personnel who work at the prison, which is allowed
under the associations rules.
Psychologists were more involved than psychiatrists in the Bush-era
interrogation programs at the C.I.A. and the Pentagon, at least in part
because Bush administration officials believed that officials at the
American Psychological Association were more supportive of the role played
by psychologists in interrogations. By contrast, Bush officials believed
that officials at the American Psychiatric Association, which had tougher
ethics rules, were not comfortable with the involvement of psychiatrists.
So far, the only other part of the government that has expressed concern
about the new rules and could be affected by them is an F.B.I.-led unit
that conducts terrorism interrogations overseas, the High-Value Detainee
Interrogation Group. The group, which includes C.I.A. personnel and employs
psychologists, was created by President Obama after he ended the Bush-era
harsh interrogation programs in 2009.
Some current and former military psychologists have been critical of the
A.P.A. ban, saying it is so broadly written that it could make it difficult
for them to work professionally in almost any national security setting. But
advocates of the ban say it had to be written in a way that would close what
they believe were longstanding loopholes in the organizations ethics
guidance.
The new ethics rules for psychologists were approved at the American
Psychological Associations annual meeting in Toronto in August after an
investigation, ordered by the groups board, found that some association
officials and other prominent psychologists colluded with government
officials to make sure that the associations policies did not prevent
psychologists from involvement in abusive interrogations conducted during
the Bush administration.
Two psychologists who were C.I.A. contractors, James Mitchell and Bruce
Jessen, helped run the C.I.A.s enhanced interrogation program, which is
now widely considered to have included torture.
Association officials say that after General Kelly ordered psychologists out
of detainee operations at Guantánamo, top Obama administration officials
contacted them to express concerns.
Brad Carson, the acting under secretary of defense for personnel and
readiness, made an urgent request to discuss the new ethics rules with top
association officials, according to an email sent by a senior association
official to the organizations council of representatives.
His primary concern was the policys prohibition on military psychologists
providing mental and behavioral health services to detainees at the
Guantánamo detention facility, according to the email, written by Ellen G.
Garrison, a senior policy adviser for the association who was on the phone
call with Mr. Carson.
In a follow-up email to one leading member of the council, Ms. Garrison said
that she told Mr. Carson that the association was not going to change its
new policy to give the Pentagon what it wanted at Guantánamo.
The Pentagon declined to comment on Mr. Carson or any role he had in the
matter.
Association officials say they were subsequently contacted by Jack Smith, a
senior health policy official at the Pentagon, and Frazier Thomas, the
director of the High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group, and are now
scheduled to meet with both men next month. The Pentagon also declined to
comment on Mr. Smith, and the F.B.I. declined to comment on Mr. Thomas.
Even as the association faces objections from the Obama administration on
its ethics ban, it is also confronting dissent from current and former
military psychologists who dispute the findings of the independent
investigation.
The dissenters believe that the new ethics rules go too far and will have
unintended consequences, and four prominent psychologists who were named in
the report have issued a lengthy rebuttal to its findings.
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The United States prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, in 2010. Psychologists no
longer observe or are involved with detainee interviews at Guantánamo, or
provide any feedback to the American military on detainee behavior.
Brennan Linsley / Associated Press
By JAMES RISEN
December 31, 2015
WASHINGTON The United States military has sharply curtailed the use of
psychologists at the prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, in response to strict
new professional ethics rules of the American Psychological Association,
Pentagon officials said.
Gen. John F. Kelly, the head of the United States Southern Command, which
oversees Guantánamo, has ordered that psychologists be withdrawn from a wide
range of activities dealing with detainees at the prison because of the new
rules of the association, the nations largest professional organization for
psychologists. The group approved the rules this past summer.
General Kellys order is the latest fallout after years of recriminations in
the profession for the crucial role that psychologists played in the
post-9/11 programs of harsh interrogation created by the C.I.A. and the
Pentagon. The psychologists involvement in the interrogations enabled the
Justice Department in the George W. Bush administration to issue secret
legal opinions that declared that the C.I.A.s so-called enhanced
interrogation program was legal, in part because health professionals were
monitoring it to make sure that it was safe and that it did not constitute
torture.
Anger in the profession about the role of the psychologists helped lead to
the new ethics rules.
/images/100000004121110/2016/01/01/us/pentagon-curbs-use-of-psychologists-wi
th-guantanamo-detainees.htmlGen. John F. Kelly ordered the reduced role in
response to new professional ethics rules.
Moises Castillo / Associated Press
In 2015, six psychologists were assigned to Guantánamo at a time and given
rotating tours of duty, and as many as 12 psychologists served at Guantánamo
during the year, according to Col. Lisa Garcia, a spokeswoman for the
Southern Command.
Officials said that the order to pull psychologists out of detainee
operations at Guantánamo, issued about two weeks ago but not made public, is
intended to protect the psychologists from violating the new rules, which
could expose them to losing their licenses. Many states use the
psychological associations ethics code in their professional licensing
requirements for psychologists.
These psychologists are licensed for independent practice and are
volunteers at Guantánamo, Cmdr. Karin Burzynski of the Navy, a spokeswoman
for the Southern Command, said in a statement. They are bound by their
respective professional organizations ethical guidelines, and General Kelly
will not jeopardize them losing their credentials.
The new rules bar psychologists from any involvement in national security
interrogations, and also bar them from providing mental health services to
detainees at sites like Guantánamo that the United Nations has determined do
not comply with international human rights law. Currently, no interrogations
take place at Guantánamo, Commander Burzynski said, and instead only
voluntary interviews are conducted when a detainee asks to speak with
American personnel.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/12/09/world/100000003279152.mobile.h
tmlGraphic | A History of the C.I.A.s Secret Interrogation Program The
Central Intelligence Agency used waterboarding, sleep deprivation and other
techniques on dozens of the men it detained in secret prisons between 2002
and 2008.
As a result of General Kellys order, psychologists at Guantánamo no longer
observe or are involved with detainee interviews, or provide any feedback to
the American military on detainee behavior, according to Commander
Burzynski.
The psychologists have also been removed from the prisons Behavioral Health
Unit, which is responsible for detainee mental health programs, and from the
prisons so-called detainee socialization programs.
At Guantánamo, psychiatrists, Navy corpsmen and nurses specializing in
mental health have replaced the psychologists to provide mental health
treatment for detainees. Psychologists will still provide mental health care
for American military personnel who work at the prison, which is allowed
under the associations rules.
Psychologists were more involved than psychiatrists in the Bush-era
interrogation programs at the C.I.A. and the Pentagon, at least in part
because Bush administration officials believed that officials at the
American Psychological Association were more supportive of the role played
by psychologists in interrogations. By contrast, Bush officials believed
that officials at the American Psychiatric Association, which had tougher
ethics rules, were not comfortable with the involvement of psychiatrists.
So far, the only other part of the government that has expressed concern
about the new rules and could be affected by them is an F.B.I.-led unit
that conducts terrorism interrogations overseas, the High-Value Detainee
Interrogation Group. The group, which includes C.I.A. personnel and employs
psychologists, was created by President Obama after he ended the Bush-era
harsh interrogation programs in 2009.
Some current and former military psychologists have been critical of the
A.P.A. ban, saying it is so broadly written that it could make it difficult
for them to work professionally in almost any national security setting. But
advocates of the ban say it had to be written in a way that would close what
they believe were longstanding loopholes in the organizations ethics
guidance.
The new ethics rules for psychologists were approved at the American
Psychological Associations annual meeting in Toronto in August after an
investigation, ordered by the groups board, found that some association
officials and other prominent psychologists colluded with government
officials to make sure that the associations policies did not prevent
psychologists from involvement in abusive interrogations conducted during
the Bush administration.
Two psychologists who were C.I.A. contractors, James Mitchell and Bruce
Jessen, helped run the C.I.A.s enhanced interrogation program, which is
now widely considered to have included torture.
Association officials say that after General Kelly ordered psychologists out
of detainee operations at Guantánamo, top Obama administration officials
contacted them to express concerns.
Brad Carson, the acting under secretary of defense for personnel and
readiness, made an urgent request to discuss the new ethics rules with top
association officials, according to an email sent by a senior association
official to the organizations council of representatives.
His primary concern was the policys prohibition on military psychologists
providing mental and behavioral health services to detainees at the
Guantánamo detention facility, according to the email, written by Ellen G.
Garrison, a senior policy adviser for the association who was on the phone
call with Mr. Carson.
In a follow-up email to one leading member of the council, Ms. Garrison said
that she told Mr. Carson that the association was not going to change its
new policy to give the Pentagon what it wanted at Guantánamo.
The Pentagon declined to comment on Mr. Carson or any role he had in the
matter.
Association officials say they were subsequently contacted by Jack Smith, a
senior health policy official at the Pentagon, and Frazier Thomas, the
director of the High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group, and are now
scheduled to meet with both men next month. The Pentagon also declined to
comment on Mr. Smith, and the F.B.I. declined to comment on Mr. Thomas.
Even as the association faces objections from the Obama administration on
its ethics ban, it is also confronting dissent from current and former
military psychologists who dispute the findings of the independent
investigation.
The dissenters believe that the new ethics rules go too far and will have
unintended consequences, and four prominent psychologists who were named in
the report have issued a lengthy rebuttal to its findings.
