Timeline of APA Policies & Actions
Related to Detainee Welfare and Professional Ethics
in the Context of Interrogation and National Security

The American Psychological Association's (APA) position on torture is clear and unequivocal: Any direct or indirect participation in any act of torture or other forms of cruel, degrading or inhuman treatment or punishment by psychologists is strictly prohibited. There are no exceptions. Such acts as waterboarding, sexual humiliation, stress positions and exploitation of phobias are clear violations of APA’s no torture/no abuse policy.

August 5		APA Council of Representatives Directs Change in its Ethics Code to Prevent So-Called Nuremberg Defense
July 31		Letter to Stephen DeMers, EdD, Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards
June 18		Open Letter from Board of Directors to APA Members Regarding Psychologists’ Participation in Interrogations Ethics Committee Statement: No Defense to Torture Under the APA Ethics Code
June 4		APA letter to President Barack Obama APA letter to CIA Director Leon Panetta APA letter to Attorney General Eric Holder
May 28		APA Responds to Journal Nature editorial "Responsible Interrogation"
May 15		APA Responds to British Medical Journal Article Comparing Interrogation Policies
April 22		APA President James H. Bray, PhD, Releases Op-ed, “Saying It Again: Psychologists Must Never Participate in Torture”
March		APA Central Office, at the Direction of the Council of Representatives, Forwards the Report of the APA Presidential Advisory Group on the Implementation of the Petition Resolution to Relevant Boards and Committees for Their Review and Appropriate Action
February 21		Council of Representatives Acts to Render Petition Resolution Official APA Policy
February 20		Council of Representatives Approves new APA Vision Statement that Includes Goal for APA to Serve as "An Effective Champion of the Application of Psychology to Promote Human Rights, Health, Well Being and Dignity"
January 22		APA Applauds President Obama's New Executive Orders Signaling Fundamental Change in the Rights and Treatment of Detainees

December		Report of the APA Presidential Advisory Group on the Implementation of the Petition Resolution
November 14-15		APA Presidential Advisory Group on the Implementation of the Petition Resolution Meets
November		Members Say No to Psychologist Involvement in Interrogations in Unlawful Detention Settings (Monitor on Psychology)
October 6		APA Letter to CIA Director Michael Hayden APA Letter to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates APA Letter to Attorney General Michael Mukasey APA Letter to House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Silvestre Reyes and Ranking Member Pete Hoekstra APA Letter to Senate Intelligence Committee Chair John D. Rockefeller IV and Vice Chair Christopher Bond APA Letter to House Armed Service Committee Chairman Ike Skelton and Ranking Member Duncan Hunter APA Letter to Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin and Ranking Member John McCain APA Letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers and Ranking Member Lamar Smith APA Letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy and Ranking Member Arlen Specter
October 2		APA Letter to President Bush: New Policy Limits Psychologist Involvement in Interrogations
October		APA 2008 President Alan E. Kazdin Appoints Advisory Group to Study Implementation of Petition Resolution
September 17		APA Members Approve Petition Resolution that Limits Psychologists' Roles in Settings that Violate International Law or the U.S. Constitution
August 16		APA Releases Statement Expressing Concern About Alleged Involvement of Psychologist in Abusive Interrogation of Guantanamo Detainee
June		APA’s Board of Directors Approves Sending Petition Resolution to Membership
April		APA Responds to Democracy Now  Editorial “The Real Anti-Torture President"
February 22		APA’s Council of Representatives Approves Resolution Amending Previous Anti-Torture Policy to Specify Applicable International Treaties
February 15		APA Letter to President Bush
February 4		APA Letter to Attorney General Michael Mukasey

November 6		APA Letter to House Judiciary Subcommittee on Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties Chairman Jerrold Nadler and Ranking Member Trent Franks
November 1		APA Letter to President Bush APA Letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy and Ranking Member Arlen Specter APA Letter to CIA Director Michael Hayden
September 21		APA Statement on Psychology and Interrogations Submitted to the United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
August 20		APA Calls on U.S. Government to Prohibit Use of Unethical Interrogation Techniques
August 17-20		APA Puts on "Ethics and Interrogations" at Annual Convention in San Francisco. Program Consists of Nine, Two-Hour Sessions with Forty-Four Speakers Addressing All Aspects of Psychologists' Involvement in Interrogations.
August 19		APA Council of Representatives Passes Resolution Specifying Types of Prohibited Interrogation Techniques
July 18		APA Responds to “Vanity Fair” Article
January 9		APA Responds to “Washington Monthly” Article

September		Letters to the Editor re: “Ethics and Interrogations: Comparing and Contrasting the American Psychological, American Medical and American Psychiatric Association Positions" ( Monitor on Psychology)
August 10		APA Issues Release Reaffirming Unequivocal Position Against Torture and Abuse
August 9		APA Council of Representatives Adopts Policy Reaffirming Opposition to Torture and Prohibition on Psychologist Participation
July		President’s Column: Varied and Valued Roles (Monitor on Psychology) Ethics and Interrogations: Comparing and Contrasting the American Psychological, American Medical and American Psychiatric Association Positions (Monitor on Psychology)
April		Ethics and National Security (Monitor on Psychology)

August 29		APA Council Reviews Ethical Guidelines for Psychologists Participating in National Security-Related Investigations and Interrogations and Provides Direction for Additional Steps
August 4		APA Responds to Article in “The Lancet”
July 5		APA Releases PENS Task Force Report
July		APA’s Board of Directors Adopts the Task Force Report as APA Policy
June 24-26		PENS Task Force Meets APA’s Board of Directors Adopts the Task Force Report as APA Policy
February		APA’s Board of Directors Approves Funds for the Establishment the Task Force on Psychological Ethics and National Security (the PENS Task Force)

		APA Council of Representatives Passes Resolution Calling on Psychology Community to Work Toward an End to Terrorism in All its Manifestations

		APA’s Council of Representatives Approves Resolution Opposing Torture and Affirms Support of the U.N. Declaration and Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and the U.N. Principles of Medical Ethics, as well as the Joint Congressional Resolution Opposing Torture that was Signed into Law by President Reagan on October 4, 1984

		APA Issues Joint Statement with the American Psychiatric Association Condemning Torture