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Federal Judge Rules U.S. Can Detain Non-Citizens Indefinitely
on Basis of Religion, Race or National Origin
Calls Grow Within American Psychological Association for
Ban on Participation in Military Interrogations: A Debate
Federal Judge Rules U.S. Can Detain Non-Citizens
Indefinitely on Basis of Religion, Race or National Origin
A federal judge in Brooklyn has ruled the government can
legally detain non-citizens on the sole basis of their religion,
race or national origin and then detain them indefinitely.
We speak with an attorney with the Center for Constitutional
Rights that filed a lawsuit in the case. [includes rush
transcript]
A federal judge in Brooklyn has ruled the government can
legally detain non-citizens on the sole basis of their religion,
race or national origin and then detain them indefinitely.
The ruling came in response to a class action lawsuit filed
by the Center for Constitutional Rights on behalf of a group
of immigrants who were detained following Sept. 11th.
- Rachel Meeropol, attorney with the Center
for Constitutional Rights and editor of the book "America's
Disappeared: Secret Imprisonment, Detainees, and the "War
on Terror."
Calls Grow Within American Psychological Association
for Ban on Participation in Military Interrogations: A Debate
Should doctors, psychiatrists and psychologists participate
in military interrogations? Both the American Psychiatric
Association and the American Medical Association have adopted
policies discouraging their members from being involved. But
their counterpart, the American Psychological Association
has not. We host a debate with APA president Dr. Gerald Koocher,
Dr. Steven Reisner, an APA member who is calling on the group
to take a stand against the practice and Dr. Stephen Xenakis,
a psychiatrist who is a retired Brigadier General in the Army
Medical Corps. [includes rush
transcript]
Should doctors, psychiatrists and psychologists participate
in military interrogations? That question has become a hot-button
topic within the medical community in the United States.
After 9/11, the Pentagon began using so-called behavioral
science consultants, or "biscuit" teams to help
interrogators obtain information from prisoners at Guantanamo
Bay and elsewhere.
These teams reportedly advised the military on how to "break"
detainees to make them more cooperative. The techniques they
devised included sleep deprivation and playing on prisoners"
fears to extract information.
Investigative journalist Jane Mayer of the New Yorker was
one of the first to break this story. We interviewed her last
year and she spoke about the interrogation methods used at
Guantanamo Bay.
- Jane Mayer, New Yorker magazine, interviewed
on Democracy Now!, July 11, 2005.
Last week, The New York Times reported that the Pentagon
would try to use only psychologists, and not psychiatrists,
to help in interrogations. Why? Because the American Psychiatric
Association recently adopted a new policy discouraging its
members from participating in military interrogations. As
did the American Medical Association. But their counterpart,
the American Psychological Association has not.
The assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, Dr.
William Winkenwerder, told the Times that the new policy favoring
the use of psychologists over psychiatrists was a recognition
of the differing positions taken by their respective groups.
Today we host a debate on this issue.
- Dr. Steven Reisner, a psychoanalyst and a member of Division
39 of the American Psychological Association - the psychoanalysis
division. He is a faculty member at NYU Medical School and
at the International Trauma Studies Program at Columbia
University.
- See petition
against psychologists' participation in interrogation of
'enemy combatants'.
- Dr. Stephen Xenakis, advisor to Physicians for Human
Rights. He is a psychiatrist who retired from the Army in
1998 at the rank of Brigadier General. He is the former
Commanding General of the Southeast Regional Army Medical
Command.
For a copy of today’s program, call 1 (800) 881 2359.
Our website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Mike Burke, Sharif Abdel Kouddous,
Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press, Jeremy Scahill and Parvez Sharma.
Mike Di Filippo is our engineer.
Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Orlando Richards,
Simba Russeau, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Joe Murgio, John Randolph,
Chris Zucker, Karen Ranucci, Denis Moynihan, Eric Rweyemamu,
Jenny Filipazzo and Isis Phillips.
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