Stephen Soldz [Director, Center for Research, Evaluation, and Program Development, Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis]: "In results released this week, the members of the American Psychological Association overwhelmingly approved a referendum repudiating the APA's years-long policy encouraging psychologists to aid interrogations in the U.S. detention facilities, including Guantanamo and the CIA's "black sites." The referendum states that psychologists may not serve in these sites unless they work directly for detainees or for independent third parties (think ICRC) "working to protect human rights." This ban goes beyond interrogation support to include all psychologists, including those providing clinical services (with the exception of providing services to U.S. troops stationed in the detention centers, which are still allowed). While differing in details, the referendum now joins the APA to other health provider organizations, such as the American Medical Association and American Psychiatric Association, that have taken strong policy stands against participating in detention abuse.

The Defense Department actively opposed the referendum, issuing a press release with talking points regarding the legal, ethical nature of psychologists' work in the detention centers. These claims were in direct conflict with the extensive evidence from leaked and released documents, journalists, the Defense Department (DoD) Inspector General, and the Senate Armed Services Committee that showed that psychologists played a central role — in both the CIA and DoD facilities — designing, implementing, and disseminating abusive techniques that, by international standards, often constituted torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment. Other work had shown that mental health staff at these sites played critical roles in administering abusive "behavior management plans," in distorting diagnoses (e.g., not diagnosing PTSD) to disguise the harmful psychological effects of the harsh treatment, and, likely providing confidential information to be used by interrogators.

Now that the referendum has passed, battles around implantation begin. The APA is interpreting their bylaws as saying the referendum doesn't take effect until next August; referendum proponents claim this is a serious distortion of the bylaws. Passage of the referendum will put additional pressure on the DoD to remove psychologists from their roles aiding interrogations and behavior management. It will also create additional pressure for the development of a mental health system for detainees that is completely isolated from chain of command pressures. While the DoD is not necessarily bound by APA policy, they generally follow professional ethics policies; to do otherwise could make their efforts to recruit psychologists and other professionals substantially more difficult. The implications for the CIA's "enhanced interrogation" program are less certain, given the secrecy under which that program is conducted. Yet, even there, the APA referendum will increase pressure for a new administration and Congress to shut down the program."