American psychologists are in dire need of therapy. A scathing report documents the collusion between past executives of the American Psychological Association (APA) and the American defence establishment involved in torturing prisoners of war after 2001.

The report reveals that the APA executives, for years, provided professional cover to the enhanced interrogation techniques (psychologist’s speech for torture) meted out to the detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Bagram Airbase, and dozens of undisclosed holding cells across the world.

The APA is apologising for “deeply disturbing findings and organisational failures” that enabled psychologists to participate in torturing the detainees.

While this recent introspection and regret are welcome, they are neither sufficient nor sincere.

Also read: CIA torture sparks world outrage, demands for justice

Over several years, the APA executives consistently refused to acknowledge the alarms raised by its conscientious members aware of the possible excesses committed against the detainees. The latest report by attorney David Hoffman was reportedly commissioned to rebut the criticism, yet it offered further proof of guilt than innocence.

Furthermore, the APA is apologetic, but not apologising to those subjected to torture. Does the APA plan to reach out to thousands of inmates abused by the American investigators?

Would the APA be curious to know if its apology has been accepted by those sold by their governments to Americans in exchange for the bounty?

Even a bigger challenge lies ahead for the APA. The scale and scope of abuse are far more extensive than what the Hoffman report has unearthed. The report has focussed primarily on the abuse of detainees held by the Americans. It does not cover similar abuse of thousands more by the intelligence apparatchik in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, and many other countries.

Also read: Americans in Pakistan, Afghanistan warned after CIA torture report

Comments by Dr. Susan McDaniel, a member of the Independent Review’s Special Committee, on the Hoffman report suggest that the learned psychologists are still in denial.

“The Hoffman Report contains deeply disturbing findings that reveal previously unknown and troubling instances of collusion,” wrote Dr. McDaniel. But, here lies the problem.

Several psychologists who knew of the Presidential Task Force on Psychological Ethics and National Security (PENS) raised alarms about psychologists being coopted in possible torture and abuse. To claim ignorance now is to insult the intelligence and integrity of those who publically warned of the excesses resulting from the APA-CIA collusion.

Jean Maria Arrigo is one such psychologist who spent several years fighting the APA executives over the association’s collusion with the American defence establishment. In 2005, she found herself on the panel of PENS whose membership was purposefully devised to favour the dictates of the American defence establishment by stacking “it with representatives from the military and CIA.”

Ms. Arrigo expressed her concerns publically, including at the annual APA convention in 2007. Gerald Kooper, who served as the APA president in 2006, instead of looking into her concerns tried to discredit her by spreading lies about her family, suggesting the supposed suicide of her father. Ms. Arrigo’s father was alive when Mr. Kooper made false allegations about her.

The issue, however, is not merely confined to an academic debate between psychologists over what constitutes torture. International covenants on human rights are explicit about the rights of the accused, including those of the prisoners of wars.

What needs to be determined is the scale and scope of such abuses by the intelligence and defence officials of other governments whose complacency was bought by the Americans for hundreds of millions of dollars in aid money and payments to the uniformed bounty hunters.

In the absence of judicial oversight, detainees held in other countries at America’s behest faced the most inhumane treatment. Once the Americans ‘legitimised’ torture of detainees, they transferred their interrogation skills and techniques to their counterparts across the globe.

In fact, the interrogation methods deemed too harsh to be administered by the American officials were left to their counterparts in other countries where the judiciary was too weak to confront the defence establishments.

The APA executives must realise that they have a long way ahead of them to rebuild the name and repute of the organisation. The Hoffman report is just the first reluctant step to righting the wrongs. The Association has enough resources at its disposal to launch a global inquiry into the abuse and torture of detainees held by other governments at CIA’s behest.

A worthwhile development will be to develop a comprehensive database of abused detainees who were tortured by others at America's behest.

An untold number of these individuals to date remain unaccounted for. The families of many of those tortured in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and elsewhere do not have the means to mount a legal defence. Nor do they have the resources to rebuild their self-esteems or broken bodies.

If the APA and others fail to intervene, the stories of most of the abused detainees will be lost forever, leaving no hope to learn from about the extent of our collective mistakes.

Later in August, the APA will hold its annual convention in Toronto. Thousands of psychologists are likely to attend. In the past, the APA executives were reluctant to acknowledge collusion in abuse or admit guilt. Will this convention be any different?

Barry S. Anton, the APA president, is scheduled to present the presidential address on August 08. His address will focus on “challenges and opportunities for psychologists in a changing world.”

I would suggest a different title for his address:

“Why psychologists should refrain from aiding and abetting state-sponsored torture.”