Cases Needed for Interrogation Ethics Casebook.
We are developing a casebook on the ethics of military interrogations and of psychologists' involvement in those interrogations. Most discussions of military interrogations in the press and among the public are not based on first-hand knowledge of what really happens in the field or on the real issues interrogators and others face. We don't want to make that mistake. Therefore, we'd like you to help us by providing real-life cases from your experience or that you've heard about.
Our casebook aims to cover all aspects of mental health professionals' involvement in interrogations. Among the types issues we've identified so far that we'd like to include are:
Psychologists and other mental health professionals' direct consultations to military or intelligence interrogators.
Career and institutional pressures on mental health professionals, such as the need to repay loans or the desire for greater status, to cooperate with abusive interrogations, even against their better judgment. The use of mental health contractors instead of regular military personnel.
The different contexts in which interrogations occur, including field interrogations, detention centers, and liaison with other countries intelligence services.
The use of mental health professionals to evaluate alleged witnesses and dissidents to abusive interrogations.
We want to cover all the varied ways that mental health professionals and paraprofessionals are involved in interrogations. Help us to create a truly comprehensive casebook that is based on real experiences and that will guide interrogation efforts in the future. We need to learn what's worked and what hasn't so that future soldiers and health professionals will have the benefits of your experience.
Please send us any cases you are aware of. Generic and anonymous cases are welcome; please don't send any classified information! Cases can be as brief or as detailed as you wish.
You can send cases by email to Jean Maria Arrigo, Project Director (peat@peat-intel.org). Also, we will be in DC on Saturday-Sunday, June 28-29, 2008, if you'd like to come and talk to us in person. Or we an arrange to talk with you by telephone. You can also send cases to Don Soeken, helpline@tidalwave.net or 301-953-7353.
For related projects, see http://www.usafa.edu/isme/ISME08/Arrigo08.html and http://www.usafa.edu/isme/JSCOPE01/Arrigo01.html.
Who We Are: We are a team of psychologists, retired intelligence professionals, and ethicists concerned about interrogation abuses and trying to determine how, if at all, psychologists and other mental health professionals can ethically contribute to military or intelligence interrogations.
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