CIA Torture as Human-Subjects Research
In the piece linked below, the author (a professor of sociology at the University of California) argues that modern norms governing human-subjects research are actually stronger, or at least more clear, than those governing government-sanctioned torture. Some of us professionally involved in research ethics governance might not agree that norms of that discipline are beyond debate. Also, we might wonder whether ‘exporting’ the norms of research ethics for use in prosecuting torture is likely to be good for research ethics, or will it end with a reversal: Some will begin with the premise that the CIA’s torture/research program is justified by its public-interest objectives. And if the CIA can, er, ‘break new ground’ in the ethics of research, then why can’t others?
The CIA Didn’t Just Torture, It Experimented on Human Beings by Lisa Hajjar (for The Nation)
… No one has been held accountable for torture, beyond a handful of prosecutions of low-level troops and contractors. Indeed, impunity has been virtually guaranteed as a result of various Faustian bargains, which include “golden shield” legal memos written by government lawyers for the CIA; ex post facto immunity for war crimes that Congress inserted in the 2006 Military Commissions Act; classification and secrecy that still shrouds the torture program…
…Rather, because the concept of torture has been so muddled and disputed, I suggest that accountability would be more publicly palatable if we reframed the CIA’s program as one of human experimentation. If we did so, it would be more difficult to laud or excuse perpetrators as “patriots” who “acted in good faith….”
Research Ethics Blog 