New York State has an unprecedented opportunity to lead the nation in the fight against torture by holding accountable health professionals complicit in prisoner abuse. Act now and send an email today to your New York State assemblymember and senator, urging them to take advantage of this opportunity by co-sponsoring and voting for Assembly Bill A-6665-B and Senate Bill S-4495-A.
In April, the Bush administration’s “torture memos” as well as reports by the Senate Armed Services Committee and the International Committee of the Red Cross confirmed that doctors and psychologists have been directly involved in the design, justification, supervision and execution of torture at U.S. military and intelligence facilities. This violates state, federal and international law and professional ethics.
Despite proof of wrongdoing, the health professionals involved in torture still hold their professional licenses to practice. To ensure accountability for torture and to prevent such atrocities from happening again, New York State legislators have introduced Bills A. 6665-B in the Assembly and S. 4495-A in the Senate, new legislation that:
• Confirms that NY-licensed health professionals’ duty to do no harm applies to their professional relationships with all patients and under all employers;
• Reaffirms that health professionals licensed in New York are prohibited from involvement in torture or other abuse of prisoners, wherever that abuse takes place;
• Removes NY-licensed health professionals from interrogations; and
• Helps NY-licensed health professionals resist unlawful orders that could place them at risk of criminal prosecution and civil damages lawsuits.
You can read the full text of the bill here.
To learn about other organizations that support the bill, and for more information on how physicians and psychologists have participated in the torture of prisoners held in U.S. custody, visit CCR's When Healers Harm campaign website.
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