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Cheers!

Dr. Cornel West (one of thousands of signatories to World Can't Wait's Crimes Are Crimes statement) was interviewed in The New York Times Magazine Sunday July 24, 2011. He said in part:

You have 30 seconds of private time with the president — what do you say to him?
I would say: “Look at that bust of Martin Luther King Jr. in the Oval Office and recognize that tears are flowing when you let Geithner and others shape your economic policy, when you refuse to focus on poor and working people or when you drop the drone bombs that kill innocent civilians. Tim Geithner does not represent the legacy of Martin King.”

WikiLeaks

Discover the truth

of the unjust, illegitimate war in Iraq and Afghanistan: WikiLeaks releases hundreds of thousands of military records revealing thousands of civilian deaths, execution squads,
other war crimes.

The Guantánamo Files

documenting torture, abuse, and years of unjust imprisonment.

Watch "Collateral Murder"

The military's own video documenting the killing of 12 Iraqis from a helicopter circling above

Help Stop these Crimes: Collateral Murder Video Showings and more...

Support Bradley Manning

The young soldier accused of releasing the US military records.
Find out more.

NATO Summit Protests

Chicago Spring:
Protest the War Criminal (NATO) Summit!

The "North Atlantic Treaty Organization" (NATO) promotes its mission as “security, cooperation among nations, and peace keeping.”
In fact,it is an organization led and dominated by the world's best-armed war criminals, led by the United States.
Join us in protesting NATO
in Chicago May 20/21!

Stop the Drones

Drone Wars

The use of Predator drones (unmanned flying vehicles
that are often armed with video-guided missiles) by the
US military and CIA is a largely untold story of the "Global
War on Terror / Global Contingency Operation" - yet has caused thousands of deaths in Pakistan and Afghanistan, many of whom are women and children.
Find out more and take action to stop the drones.

Lawsuit Filed Against Psychologist Torturer

Sunday, 18 October 2009 13:32

By Kenneth J. Theisen

A case is currently being litigated in Louisiana to hold a psychologist responsible for his actions in contributing to the torture of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib. On October 15,2009, attorneys filed an appeal before the Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeal, in the case Dr. Trudy Bond v. Louisiana State Board of Examiners of Psychologists. Psychologist Dr. Trudy Bond is demanding that the Louisiana State Board of Examiners investigate Louisiana psychologist and retired U.S. Army colonel Dr. Larry C. James. James was a high-ranking advisor on interrogations for the U.S. military in Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib.

According to his own statements, Dr. James played a key role in both the policy and day-to-day operations of interrogations and detention at both prison camps. Publicly-available information shows that while Dr. James was at Gitmo, abuse in interrogations was wide-spread, and cruel and inhuman treatment was official policy.

Allegations of abuse of prisoners during Dr. James’s January to May 2003 Guantanamo deployment include beatings, religious and sexual humiliation, rape threats, and painful body and stress positions – all violations of domestic and international law. Canadian citizen Omar Khadr, who is still imprisoned in Guantanamo, is just one of the many detainees who alleged brutal treatment in the spring of 2003, when he was only 16 years old. Dr. James was later stationed in Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison in 2004 and returned to Guantanamo in 2007. In 2008, he was appointed Dean of the School of Professional Psychology at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. Is this the type of person who should be in charge of teaching other psychologists?

In February 2008 Dr. Bond, in compliance with her ethical obligation to report abuse by other psychologists, filed a complaint against Dr. James before the Louisiana Board, the agency that issued and currently regulates Dr. James’ psychology license. She called on the Board to investigate whether action should be taken against Dr. James. In her complaint Dr. Bond alleged that Dr. James breached professional ethics by violating psychologists’ duties to do no harm, to protect confidential information, and to obtain informed consent of patients.

As Chief Psychologist of the Joint Intelligence Group and a senior member of the Behavioral Science Consultation Team (BSCT) at Guantanamo, Dr. James had access to the confidential medical records of people he was charged with exploiting for intelligence. According to former Guantanamo interrogators, BSCTs used information from patients’ records to help interrogators increase the patients’ psychological duress, including by exploiting their fears. The very purpose of these mental health professional teams, the interrogators said, was to help “break” the prisoners. Dr. James denies that claim, but an extensive government paper trail supports the interrogators’ accounts.

Despite this evidence, the Louisiana Board summarily refused to investigate Dr. Bond’s complaint, claiming that the statute of limitations had run, despite conclusive information to the contrary. Dr. Bond then filed suit against the Board in Louisiana’s 19th Judicial District Court, which in July 2009 dismissed her case without reviewing the merits. The latest legal brief before the First Circuit Court asserts that the District Court should have reviewed the Board’s clearly incorrect decision.

Dr. Bond stated, “The five psychologists on the Louisiana Board were given plenty of credible evidence, but they chose not to investigate the head intelligence psychologist of prison camps notorious for their use of psychological torture. I don’t think Louisiana lawmakers intended to give five fellow professionals total, unchecked power to make arbitrary decisions that deeply affect the public welfare.”

Center for Constitutional Rights Cooperating Attorney Deborah Popowski said, “The Louisiana Board is fighting awfully hard to turn a blind eye to serious allegations of abuse. We wish the Board would devote its resources to investigating unethical conduct instead. Everyone, including the people of Louisiana, would be better served.”

In its war of terror the U.S. has often relied on various professionals to carry out that war. This has included lawyers like John Yoo who wrote legal briefs to “legally justify” the crimes of the Bush regime. Members of the medical profession have also played their part in furthering the war of terror. But as Dr. Bond and her attorney have shown, not all professionals have gone along with their professional colleagues. Large numbers of lawyers, doctors, psychologists, and other professionals have challenged the criminal conduct of those who have cooperated with the U.S. war of terror. This case is one of many such examples where people have demanded that those who have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity be held accountable for their actions. We must support these actions and demand that all such criminals face responsibility.

For more information on the involvement of health professionals in torture and abuse visit the Center for Constitutional Rights website.