Judge denies request to dismiss case against psychologists

[de officiis]

Judge denies request to dismiss case against psychologists

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — A federal judge ruled Friday that a jury should decide whether two psychologists who helped design the CIA’s harsh interrogation methods used in the war on terror should be held accountable for the suffering that at least one detainee suffered under the program.

U.S. District Judge Justin Quackenbush refused to immediately rule in favor of the American Civil Liberties Union, which brought the lawsuit on the behalf of three former detainees and argued the psychologists were the architects of what became the CIA’s torture program following the Sept. 11 attacks. The men were subjected to physical assaults and sleep deprivation, forced to stand for days in diapers with their arms chained overhead, doused with icy water and stuffed into boxes.

Quackenbush said the evidence warrants a trial on the issues. The trial is set for Sept. 5.

The case will move forward for the representatives of the estate of Gul Rahman, who was “starved, sleepless and freezing” before he died of hypothermia while chained in a prison cell following extended interrogation.

Quackenbush, however, said he has reservations regarding the evidence as it applies to the two living detainees: Suleiman Abdullah Salim and Mohamed Ahmed Ben Soud.

The judge said he would review the case and issue a written ruling regarding his position on the other two men. He also granted the ACLU’s request to use at trial the Senate Intelligence Committee Study on the CIA Detention and Interrogation Program, completed in 2012 and made public in 2014.

Quackenbush closed the hearing by urging the lawyers to try to settle the case and avoid a costly trial. He noted that the contract psychologists James Mitchell and John Jessen had with the government indemnified them for any judgments. The psychologists’ lawyers being paid out of a pot of money provided by taxpayers and established in an indemnity contract.

Their lawyers argued that the psychologists should not be punished for the CIA’s actions.

When the CIA sought help with interrogating the agency’s first prisoner, Abu Zubaydah, a high-value detainee, Mitchell provided methods, lawyer Brian Paszamant told the judge. Simply providing a memo does not make them guilty of aiding and abetting torture, he argued.

Didn’t Mitchell in his book “describe himself as the architect of the enhanced interrogation program?” Quackenbush asked.

“What does it mean to be an architect?” Paszamant responded. The psychologist prepared a 2002 memo for the CIA, but had no control over what happened next, he said.

The CIA set up the prisons, chose the detainees, decided who conducted the interrogations and who was present, Paszamant said. The psychologists designed the program for a high value detainee and didn’t know the government would use it on middle value and other detainees, he said.

“Everything was the absolute direct control of the U.S. government through the CIA,” another of the psychologists’ lawyers, Jim Smith, said.

There were five or six people present during the Zubaydah interrogations, Smith said, but only Mitchell and Jessen are being sued.

“This is a classic example of being left holding the bag,” he said. “The government has left us holding the bag.” {Obviously doesn't understand what indemnification means...}

ACLU lawyer Dror Ladin said the psychologists were much more involved than simply writing a memo and then stepping away.

Mitchell’s vision of a successful program involved corrosive methods designed to instill fear and despair, Landin said. They then became involved directly in the interrogation of Zubaydah, he said.

“They cut off his clothing, slammed him into walls,” Ladin said. “They admitted that they kept it up for weeks. As soon as they were done with Zubaydah, they helped expand the program.”

Jessen was directly involved in six interrogations of Rahman at the secret prison called Colbalt, Ladin said.

Even if they never saw or interrogated Salim or Ben Soud or any of the other detainees, they are liable under the law, Ladin said.

“International law is clear on this,” he said. “Participation may occur before, during or after the crime is committed. When one person orders torture and one provides the tools and another inflicts it, international law says all are responsible.”

The two psychologists were paid $81 million for their help, Ladin said. “The defendants were the primary profiteers of this program from the beginning to the end,” he said.

September 5...

[de officiis]

Psychologists Behind CIA 'Enhanced Interrogation' Program Settle Detainees' Lawsuit

Two psychologists who were paid more than $80 million by the CIA to develop "enhanced interrogation" techniques — which have been called torture — have settled a lawsuit brought by men who were detained.

The list of brutal methods devised by Bruce Jessen and James Mitchell for use by the U.S. included waterboarding. The tactics were meant to condition detainees into a state of helplessness. Mitchell has said he was told by U.S. officials that the idea was to "walk right up to the edge of the law."

The case had been set to go before a jury on Sept. 5. Because of their status as contractors rather than government employees, the lawsuit had targeted Jessen and Mitchell as private citizens.

Based in Spokane, Wash., the two psychologists were sued by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of two former prisoners and the family of one detainee who died of extreme cold in a secret CIA prison.
...
The plaintiffs were:

Suleiman Abdullah Salim, a Tanzanian whom the CIA abducted in 2003 and imprisoned in Afghanistan, as NPR's David Welna has reported. He was released without being charged after spending more than five years in U.S. custody.

Libyan Mohamed Ahmed Ben Soud, who was shot and detained in 2003. He was held for about a year in a CIA prison in Afghanistan before being sent to Libya — where he was imprisoned for five years.

The family of Gul Rahman, an Afghan man who was detained in Pakistan in October 2002 and who died a month later after being chained in a cold cell, partially nude.

Salim, Soud and Rahman were among the 119 detainees mentioned in the 2014 Senate Intelligence Committee report.

Similar details of the detainees' treatment emerged from the plaintiffs and the Senate report: Prisoners were often held nude or nearly nude, left hanging by their arms or chained to the floor, confined in small places and subjected to intense cold.

The defendants had repeatedly sought to dismiss the case, but it was allowed to proceed by U.S. District Judge Justin Quackenbush, who had urged the two sides to reach a deal before a trial began.

The defendants issued a statement Thursday in which Jessen said, "Neither Dr. Mitchell nor I knew about, condoned, participated in, or sanctioned the unauthorized actions that formed the basis for this lawsuit."
...
In recent hearings, the judge also "noted that the federal government is paying for the team of defense attorneys for Mitchell and Jessen and would also fund any potential cash award by a jury," as The Spokesman-Review reported. Back in 2010, the AP and Mother Jones reported that the CIA had agreed to pay up to $5 million toward the psychologists' attorneys fees.

...
The terms of the settlement are confidential. ACLU attorney Dror Ladin called it "a historic victory for our clients and the rule of law," adding that it shows there are consequences for those accused of torture.

[GloryofGreece]

I don't know what to make of it, but its disturbing in an unsurprising way. Since 2003 we knew that the CIA, DOD, MP etc. all were involved in unsavory acts at the least. I do think its important for Americans to at least acknowledge what goes on behind closed doors in prisons of various sorts. Even if it doesn't result in changing policies or getting rid of torture.