Doctors of the Dark Side, directed by Martha Davis, is a haunting film documenting the central role of health professionals in US torture, especially at Guantanamo and the CIA's secret 'black site' prisons. This involvement has been described by Nathaniel Raymond, formerly of Physicians for Human Rights, as "the single greatest scandal in the history of American medical ethics." The film raises disturbing questions about whether the central ethical commitments of health professionals to 'Do No Harm' have been sacrificed in the post-9/11 world.
Discussants
Nathaniel Raymond was for years a human rights investigator and director of the Campaign Against Torture at Physicians for Human Rights. He now directs the Signal Program on Human Security and Technology at the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative.
Stephen Soldz, Ph.D., Cert. Psya. is a BGSP faculty member. He has been an active participant in controversy regarding the roles of psychologists in US interrogations and other national security activities and he was a consultant on several Guantanamo cases. He is interviewed in the film.
Participants will be able to:
1. Identify ethical issues involved in psychologist participation in consultation with intelligence agencies.
2. Discuss possible interventions to counter potential ethical violations.
3. Identify policy changes that would reduce the dangers of ethics violations in intelligence settings.
