Federal Judge Allowed Lawsuit Against Two CIA Psychologists to Proceed

A federal judge allowed a civil lawsuit against CIA psychologists to move forward. Two Washington state psychologists were allegedly helped to orchestrate the interrogation program for the Central Intelligence Agency which abused detainees.

For the first time, as The Guardian reported, federal judge in eastern Washington state ruled for a civil lawsuit brought by victims of the CIA interrogation program to move forward. Senior federal juge Justin L Quackenbush said he could not dismiss the case after hearing the allegation for contract psychologists who created the interrogation program.

"I cannot summarily dismiss the complaint plaintiffs have filed," Quackenbush said. "It's thorough to say the least. On its face, the complaint alleges not only aiding and abetting but participation and complicity in the administration of this enhanced interrogation program."

United Press International reported that the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed the case on behalf of three CIA detainees, Suleiman Abdullah Salim, Mohamed Ahmed Ben Soud and the family of Gul Rahman. The lawsuit was filed against two CIA contract psychologists, James Elmer Mitchell and John Jessen. The psychologists were alleged to abuse group of detainees for their enhanced interrogation program.

The lawsuit was filed last October over the interrogation technique which was derived from experiments in 1960's and the learned helplessness theory. The theory was formulated by psychologists Martin Seligman based on his research in 1967 at the University of Pennsylvania.

Martin Seligman who was interested in depression developed the learned helplessness theory which described a behavior of either human and animal. They that have endured repeated painful experience, will learn that their helplessness is unavoidable. They will stop try to escape and will surrender and will result to clinical depression.

Based on that theory, James Elmer Mitchell and John Jessen developed their enhanced interrogation program. The techniques which was used during interrogation, as Christian Science Monitor described, included slamming prisoners into walls, stuffing them inside coffin-like boxes, exposing them to extreme temperatures, starving them, and depriving them of sleep for days. The interrogation had inflicted the subjects of interrogation to suffer from trauma which the lawsuit mentioned.

In the lawsuit, ACLU seeks a $75,000 in damages for the victims. Suleiman Abdullah Salim is a Tanzanian who was abducted by the CIA and security forces of Kenya in Somalia in 2003. While Mohamed Ahmed Ben Soud is a Libyan who was captured in a US-Pakistani raid, and Gul Rahman is an Afghan national who died in 2002 from hypothermia in CIA custody.

A federal judge allowed a civil lawsuit against two CIA psychologists to move forward. The Washington state psychologists, James Elmer Mitchell and John Jessen, were contracted by CIA to develop controversial interrogation techniques that abused detainees.

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CIA, interrogation, ACLU, federal judge

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