Evil in Our Midst: Why We Must Pass California Senate Joint Resolution 19 on Torture

In 2002, for the first time in American history, the United States Department of Justice reinterpreted national and international law related to the treatment of prisoners of war in a manner that purported to justify long-prohibited interrogation methods and treatment of detainees; and initiated a radical new policy allowing the torture of prisoners of war and other captives.

Reports from the International Red Cross, The New England Journal of Medicine, the British Medical Journal, military records, and first-person accounts, provide overwhelming evidence that military physicians and psychologists have directly participated in the development and cover-up of torture and abuse of detainees in U.S. custody.

Medical professionals are reported to have advised interrogators as to whether particular prisoners were fit enough to survive physical maltreatment, informed interrogators about prisoners’ phobias and other psychological vulnerabilities that could be exploited during questioning, failed to report incidents of alleged torture, force-fed prisoners who were on hunger strikes, and altered the death certificates of prisoners who died.

Additionally, the Bush Administration has admitted to waterboarding prisoners - a crime under domestic law, including the Torture Statute and the War Crimes Act, and prohibited by the U.S. Army Field Manual.

Yet, Malcolm Nance, Director, Special Readiness Services International SRSI, has stated that waterboarding is done “under the watch of a doctor.”

And last month (March 8) President Bush blocked an effort by congressional Democrats to limit interrogation measures by vetoing an intelligence authorization bill that would have outlawed waterboarding and other harsh methods.

One leadership position at Guantanamo Bay, where this was reportedly taking place, was licensed to practice medicine in California.

As professional licensure and codes of ethics are regulated by states, California has the obligation to notify members of laws concerning torture that may result in their prosecution.

This week, I will put to a vote Senate Joint Resolution 19 on the floor of the Senate that states that the U.S. Department of Defense has “failed to oversee the ethical conduct of California-licensed health professionals related to torture.”

As chairman of the Senate Committee on Business, Professionals and Economic Development, which has oversight over medical and health professional licenses, I held a hearing and accepted testimony on this issue on January 14 at the State Capitol.

Representatives from the American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Nurses Association, the American Friends Service Committee and Physicians for Social Responsibility backed my Resolution.

The World Medical Association, issued guidelines discouraging physicians from using their medical knowledge, skills or health information to facilitate or otherwise aid any coercive interrogation and torture, legal or illegal.

Closer to home, the California Medical Association also states that it “condemns any participation in, cooperation with or failure to report by physicians and other health professionals the mental or physical abuse, sexual degradation or torture of prisoners or detainees.

Torture is much more than a political issue. It is an ethical, moral and spiritual issue that has not only become a shame, but it is an evil in our midst.

Dr. King would not remain silent on an issue of such moral importance. Nor will I. Dr. King repeatedly warned us that, “He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it.”

Right-minded Americans understand that to protect foreign prisoners of war from torture, also protects the rights of our citizens, indeed, our children, from being tortured if they become prisoners of war.

In this period of international crisis, we must be ever reminded of what Dr. King stated so emphatically, “An injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

Mark Ridley-Thomas is a California State Senator representing the 26th Senatorial District. He has authored SJR 19, which is scheduled for a vote on the Senate floor this week.