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Who Is Responsible For Torture?

WUNC News | By Anita Rao,

Frank Stasio

Published August 24, 2017 at 12:17 PM EDT

These undated still photos from trial deposition video, accepted as evidence in court and provided by the American Civil Liberties Union, shows psychologists James Mitchell, left, and John Jessen, defendants in a landmark lawsuit that the ACLU filed against the creators of the CIA's harsh interrogation program used in the war on terror. A settlement was reached Thursday, Aug. 17, 2017. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

These undated still photos from trial deposition video, accepted as evidence in court and provided by the American Civil Liberties Union, shows psychologists James Mitchell, left, and John Jessen, defendants in a landmark lawsuit that the ACLU filed against the creators of the CIA's harsh interrogation program used in the war on terror. A settlement was reached Thursday, Aug. 17, 2017. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

A settlement was reached last week in a lawsuit against two psychologists who were paid by the CIA to develop its post-9/11 interrogation program.

Host Frank Stasio talks with Deborah Weissman, Reef C. Ivey II Distinguished Professor of Law at UNC-Chapel Hill, and Stephen Soldz, clinical psychologist, professor and director of the master's program in social justice and human rights at the Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis about torture and accountability.

BruceJessenand James Mitchell received more than $80 million as contractors, and their work included proposing techniques such as waterboarding and forcing individuals to hold painful positions for hours. The terms of the settlement are confidential, but some psychologists and civil rights attorneys are calling it a “historic victory.” They argue that it is one of the first times individuals affiliated with the torture program are being held accountable. The lawsuit draws attention to ongoing questions about how to compensate torture survivors.

Host Frank Stasio talks with Deborah Weissman, Reef C. Ivey II Distinguished Professor of Law at UNC-Chapel Hill, and Stephen Soldz, clinical psychologist, professor and director of the master's program in social justice and human rights at the Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis.

Copyright 2017 North Carolina Public Radio

Anita Rao

Anita Rao is the host and creator of "Embodied," a live, weekly radio show and seasonal podcast about sex, relationships & health. She's also the managing editor of WUNC's on-demand content. She has traveled the country recording interviews for the Peabody Award-winning StoryCorps production department, founded and launched a podcast about millennial feminism in the South, and served as the managing editor and regular host of "The State of Things," North Carolina Public Radio's flagship daily, live talk show. Anita was born in a small coal-mining town in Northeast England but spent most of her life growing up in Iowa and has a fond affection for the Midwest.

See stories by Anita Rao

Frank Stasio

Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.

See stories by Frank Stasio