HUMAN CRISES created, perpetuated by prior conditions of colonies, crimes of colonialists

Calais

Homelessness, Rejection, Historic, Current Cruelty

Editing, excerpting, ending comment by Carolyn Bennett 

3

0-year-old Pakistani asylum seeker Asif Haji speaking to IPS

“Human tragedy should not be classified.”

“At issue is the divisive policy which places refugees in ‘asylum-worthy’ categories.…

 

‘…First are Syrians and other Middle East refugees who are awarded permits and 

education.

‘Second come the Afghans and Pakistanis who have to struggle a bit but are allowed language school and work permits.

‘[Third] … are the Africans who are widely perceived as economic migrants leeching on the system and petty criminals dealing in drugs who are not particularly welcome anywhere. This is unfair. Human tragedy should not be classified.’

S

African Refugees

udanese blogger and Refugee Movement campaigner Adam Bahar to IPS 

Yemeni Refugees

Politicians busying themselves with strategies and programs and allocating resources to more programs to hold back refugees … should instead “be naming and shaming the real culprits….

‘Change begins by uprooting dictators who are clandestinely colluding to misuse their nation’s wealth and remain in power thanks to the support of the pseudo democracies of the first world.’…

‘In dictatorships, young people suffer systematic oppression for a mere criticism of the regime.”

Facing ‘joblessness and lack of freedom of expression’ and ‘following the lure of the foreign media’s often empty slogans of justice and freedom, they (young people)  seek legal or illegal emigration.’

Middle East Refugees

“His dream of a better life of freedom and wealth evaporated when he reached Europe,” Adam Bahar is paraphrased, “where he soon realized that freedom and human rights are not for everyone to enjoy.”

On a clear day, the White Cliffs of Dover can easily be seen from this port town in northern France overlooking the Strait of Dover, the narrowest point in the English Channel. Calais is the closest French town to England and the largest city in Pas-de-Calais.

“JUNGLE” AT CALAIS

No one should have to live like this

Calais refugees

James Rippingale reporting: “More than 2,000 migrants” languish “in a Calais Refugee Camp for one reason alone”—a chance “to reach Britain, or die trying.”

2

8-year-old Whalid of Nuba Mountain, Sudan, who has been living in ‘The Jungle’ for three months, recalls a man pretending “to be Islamic” but who was “only interested in money.”

‘We were locked in a small house near the water with around 300 others and herded like cows onto a boat,’

‘The Africans were made to go below and were nailed shut beneath the deck…. We made holes in the wood just to breathe.’

‘I’d rather be killed in my own country than die here, but I will never stop trying to reach freedom.’

M

asters graduate in Food Security and Agriculture (University of Khartoum), Ahmed, who has been in ‘The Jungle’ for over a month, recalled to the reporter that after “two days at sea, the boat’s engine began billowing smoke,” the vessel rocked wildly and “refugees sobbed, screamed, begging to be saved.

Red Cross received emergency radio message; Migrants were transferred “onto a small rescue vessel [and] offloaded onto a nearby cruise ship”, where they were “surrounded by picture-snapping tourists.”

Calais refugees

Somali Refugees

The migrants walked from Italy to Calais and Ahmed said after he tried “to sneak onto a ferry,” he was met by “French police” who beat him and “dumped him at the Belgian border.” At the beginning of September 2014, he “applied for asylum in France” and is still waiting for a decision.

P

Calais refugees

olitical cartoonist and writer of slogans highlighting corruption and brutality among Sudanese government officials, a passionate exponent of Khartoum’s protest movement, 24-year-old Yassen of Khartoum, Sudan (also (University of Khartoum student in illustration), has been three months in ‘The Jungle’.

Why? He says he “became scared for [his] future because there was no freedom, no liberty and [he] was on a government blacklist.”

Z

Sicily off Italy south

aghawa tribesman, cattle and sheep rancher, 24-year-old Nahar of Hamada Forest, Southern Darfur, Sudan, three months in ‘The Jungle’ recalls snapshots from his journey to Calais.

It was “…evening …on a darkened beach, the refugees were

packed into tiny inflatable boats to begin the crossing to Sicily.” He then made his way to Ventimiglia then to Nice by train; and then walking to the Calais migrant camp.’ He said he had hoped “to reach the safety of England and end his journey.”

Middle East Refugees

The question is not “are we living up to ‘our values’”?

The compelling issue is twofold: correcting the harm of the past and stopping the harm currently perpetrated with impunity, which is compounding egregious wrongs of the past.

Sources and notes

“Germany’s Asylum Seekers – You Can’t Evict a Movement,” Francesca Dziadek, August 22, 2015, http://www.ipsnews.net/2015/05/germanys-asylum-seekers-you-cant-evict-a-movement/

“Welcome to The Jungle,” Web Exclusive, James Rippingale , March 18, 2015, http://newint.org/features/web-exclusive/2015/03/18/jungle-calais-migrants/

James Rippingale can be found @mrrippingale. See more at: http://newint.org/features/web-exclusive/2015/03/18/jungle-calais-migrants/#sthash.hFM0n2Rh.dpuf

 “Refugee crisis - Do we care enough?” Deutsche Welle’s Quadriga August 20, 2015 edition

“Hundreds of thousands are fleeing persecution, war and poverty – in the hope of safety and a better life in Europe.

In Germany alone an estimated 800.000 refugees are expected to arrive this year. Many Germans are eager to help them, but there has also been opposition and even racist attacks.

Can Europe find a worthy answer to the migrant crisis? Or will we respond by isolating ourselves further? quadriga(at)dw.com

http://www.dw.com/en/quadriga-refugee-crisis-do-we-care-enough-2015-08-20/e-18612192-9798

CALAIS today is a key transport hub and notable fishing port, a center for fish marketing, with additionally an estimated 3,000 people still employed in the town’s famed lace industry. Ten million people visit Calais annually. In Northern France, “the city’s proximity to England has made it a major port for centuries. It is the principal ferry crossing point between England and France, with the vast majority of Channel crossings being made between Dover and Calais. The port accounts for more than a third of economic activity of the town of Calais.

Calais overlooks the Strait of Dover, the narrowest point in the English Channel, which is only 34 km (21 mi) wide here, and is the closest French town to England. On a clear day, the White Cliffs of Dover can easily be seen from Calais.  

Calais is largest city in Pas-de-Calais, a town and major ferry port in northern France; population of the metropolitan area 126,395 (2010 census) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calais

__________________________________________________

A lifelong American writer and writer/activist (former academic and staffer with the U.S. government in Washington), Dr. Carolyn LaDelle Bennett is credentialed in education and print journalism and public affairs (PhD, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan; MA, The American University, Washington, DC). Her work concerns itself with news and current affairs, historical contexts, and ideas particularly related to acts and consequences of U.S. foreign relations, geopolitics, human rights, war and peace, and violence and nonviolence. Dr. Bennett is an internationalist and nonpartisan progressive personally concerned with society and the common good. An educator at heart, her career began with the U.S. Peace Corps, teaching in Sierra Leone, West Africa. Since then, she has authored several books and numerous current-affairs articles; her latest book: UNCONSCIONABLE: How The World Sees Us: World News, Alternative Views, Commentary on U.S. Foreign Relations; most thoughts, articles, edited work are posted at Bennett’s Study: http://todaysinsightnews.blogspot.com/ and on her Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/carolynladelle.bennett. http://www.prweb.com/releases/2014/08UNCONSCIONABLE/prweb12131656.htm http://bookstore.xlibris.com/Products/SKU-000757788/UNCONSCIONABLE.aspx Her books are also available at independent bookstores in New York State: Lift Bridge in Brockport; Sundance in Geneseo; Dog Ears Bookstore and Literary Arts Center in Buffalo; Burlingham Books in Perry; The Bookworm in East Aurora

__________________________________________________

U.S. foreign engagement—knowing wrong, committing it, getting away with it

Modern-day Iran (Tehran)Alborz Mountains in Background

Decades-long intervention, a Diplomat’s assessment

From an Op-ed by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif

Excerpt, minor edits by Carolyn Bennett

Origins of violent extremism

Human values of “affection, love for fellow human beings, patience and forgiveness have always been fundamental components” of all religions’ messages but the past two 

centuries have seen “a small group of demagogues with suspicious backgrounds and with the pretext of reforming religion” begin “offering a distorted and unreal image of Islam.” With their “political goals” and advancement of a “short-sighted agenda”, they set out to “alter the message of Islam and distort religious teachings and attempted to take affection away from religion; thus the Takfiris and their followers took a harsh stance – more than before – toward those who refused to accept such an interpretation of religion; and the former regarded the latter as being ‘out of religion.’”

Mohammad Javad Zarif

Because of their “social and economic conditions,” individuals and groups were “susceptible” and “lured” to radical ideologies.…” While “the majority of those who believe in Takfiri interpretations have always refrained from resorting to force to spread and enforce their beliefs, some of them took up arms….” In some cases, they “even rebelled against their own masters.…” At this point, “violent extremism was born.”

 

Foreigners’ exploitation: a “vicious cycle of foreign intervention, radicalism, and regional instability”

Understanding the situation, the rise and spread of “existing extremist groups”, requires close attention to the critical role of bloody developments in Iraq over the past decade. “Political and military interventions in the Islamic world, particularly in the 2000s, caused many difficulties, provided fertile ground for extremist demagogues, allowed the most radical of them to dominate others; and thus the ground was paved for violent extremist groups to take shape.”

Deep Harm, Disregard for cultures, Illusory "democracy"

“Those who devised this plan were incapable of understanding that democracy cannot be imposed on a nation through brute force.” Democracy also cannot “take root in a society under the rule of an occupying military.”  While attempts were being made to enforce this illusory scheme (“democracy”), the damage done to Iraq and the region “has been so extensive and deep that years of endeavors to undo [the damage] have had little effect.

“The objective of these policies—that were formed based on utter ignorance toward the innate dynamism of the region—was to impose on it a model completely alien to the region and in contradiction to the traditions, cultures and ways of life of native societies.”

Cycle of suffering feeding on one another

“The continual instability that befell a number of societies in the region as a result of this process [of foreign intervention, exploitation, violence, provocation] paved the ground for the empowerment of violent extremists, and caused a vicious cycle in which foreign occupation and radicalism fed one another, in such a way that extremists were enabled to exploit the social and cultural gaps that have been caused.”

Though ignored, “predicting such a scenario was not very difficult.”

M

ohammad Javad Zarif Khonsari is an Iranian diplomat, academic, and currently Iran’s Minister of Foreign Affairs.

In 1982, he was a member of the Iranian delegation to the United Nations and was involved in negotiations to win release of U.S. hostages held by pro-Iranian gunmen in Lebanon.  From 2002 to 2007, he was Iran’s representative at the United Nations and in 2003 “was closely linked with developing the so-called ‘Grand Bargain,’ a plan to resolve outstanding issues between the United States and Iran.”

In 2000, Zarif served as chairman of the Asian preparatory meeting of the World Conference on Racism and as the chairman of the United Nations Disarmament Commission and was also professor of international law at the University of Tehran. From 2010 to 2012 under Abdollah Jasbi, he was vice president of Islamic Azad University in charge of foreign affairs; and served on the board of editors of a number of scholarly journals, including the Iranian Journal of International Affairs and Iranian Foreign Policy. He has written extensively on disarmament, human rights, international law, and regional conflicts.

 

This distinguished foreign minister and veteran diplomat has held many domestic and international positions, including adviser and senior adviser to the Iran's Foreign Minister, Deputy Foreign Minister in Legal and International affairs, member of the prominent personalities of the Dialogue Among Civilizations, Head of the UN Disarmament Committee in New York, member of the prominent personalities of global governance, and Deputy in International Affairs of the Islamic Azad University.

Sources and notes

“‘Occupying armies bring no democracy’”, Op-ed by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, published in the Tuesday edition of the Turkish Cumhuriyet daily, posted at Press TV August 11, 2015,

http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2015/08/11/424260/Iran-Zarif-op-ed-Cumhuriyet

Mohammad Javad Zarif Khonsari bio notes, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammad_Javad_Zarif

__________________________________________________

A lifelong American writer and writer/activist (former academic and staffer with the U.S. government in Washington), Dr. Carolyn LaDelle Bennett is credentialed in education and print journalism and public affairs (PhD, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan; MA, The American University, Washington, DC). Her work concerns itself with news and current affairs, historical contexts, and ideas particularly related to acts and consequences of U.S. foreign relations, geopolitics, human rights, war and peace, and violence and nonviolence. Dr. Bennett is an internationalist and nonpartisan progressive personally concerned with society and the common good. An educator at heart, her career began with the U.S. Peace Corps, teaching in Sierra Leone, West Africa. Since then, she has authored several books and numerous current-affairs articles; her latest book: UNCONSCIONABLE: How The World Sees Us: World News, Alternative Views, Commentary on U.S. Foreign Relations; most thoughts, articles, edited work are posted at Bennett’s Study: http://todaysinsightnews.blogspot.com/ and on her Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/carolynladelle.bennett. http://www.prweb.com/releases/2014/08UNCONSCIONABLE/prweb12131656.htm http://bookstore.xlibris.com/Products/SKU-000757788/UNCONSCIONABLE.aspx Her books are also available at independent bookstores in New York State: Lift Bridge in Brockport; Sundance in Geneseo; Dog Ears Bookstore and Literary Arts Center in Buffalo; Burlingham Books in Perry; The Bookworm in East Aurora

__________________________________________________

WE CAN CHANGE THE WORLD say psychologists re. U.S. torture

Righting wrongs begins internally, motivated by a certain “something,” driven by certain some ones together

Writer, researcher, consultant, New York Psychologist, Teacher, Trauma Expert

Steven Reisner, PhD.

Dr. Reisner has consulted on the effects of war, exile, and torture, including training psychiatrists in Iraq to treat survivors of torture, training Kosovo-returned refugees to use theater and testimony to address the trauma of exile; consulted with clinical staff of the United Nations, helping train and supervise counselors responsible for the health and well-being of UN staff in many countries.

Reisner’s writings have appeared in the Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, Psychoanalytic Dialogues, Studies in Gender and Psychoanalysis.  In New York City, he is Senior Faculty and Supervisor at the International Trauma Studies Program and on the faculties of the Department of Psychiatry and the Psychoanalytic Institute at the New York University Medical School and the Program in Clinical Psychology at Columbia University.

R

eisner spoke in interview on today’s Democracy Now program following the Friday near unanimous vote by the Council of Representatives of the American Psychological Association (APA) “to adopt a new policy barring psychologists from participating in national security interrogations.” This is something he said that impressed me in his discussion with Amy Goodman.

“Enormous talents” are required “to change the world.”


When “talented people get together and are dedicated to good, to human rights, human welfare, to change—using our skills, our individual skills, for good—it may take 10 years … but … it is possible to make a significant change.

“…[R]ight now, even the Obama administration is on notice that the American Psychological Association is opposed to some of the policies that are still in existence.…: \

the interrogation policy of the Obama administration includes the Army Field Manual Appendix M. That appendix uses techniques or permits techniques that have been banned by the United Nations Committee Against Torture.

“…[T]he American Psychological Association is saying to the Obama administration that we consider that cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, and none of our members can participate in any of those activities;

it’s time for you to change that Army Field Manual; it’s time for the United States to follow the American Psychological Association and ban any technique, any condition that is considered still to be torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. 

 “We want to lead the way….”

Psychoanalyst, clinical psychologist, professor, anti-war activist

Dr. Stephen Soldz

Director of the Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis, outspoken critic of the U.S. government’s use of psychological torture in its conduct of the War in Iraq and Global War on Terror.

In August 2007, Dr. Soldz publicly challenged the American Psychological Association to ban involvement by professional psychologists in the interrogation of ‘enemy combatant’ prisoners held by the CIA and Defense Department. In November 2007, with Julian Assange, he coauthored an article published via WikiLeaks on psychological torture at Guantanamo Bay.

Dr. Soldz is a prolific researcher and writer in the field of psychology and personality as well as in the areas purely and interfacing with war and peace and international affairs, human rights, torture. In addition to publishing the “Iraq Occupation and Resistance Report” website, he has written for the Znet website on which he questions the accuracy in reporting the number of Iraqi civilian deaths since the March 2003 invasion. He has written op-ed columns for a variety of sources.

O

n the Democracy Now program today Stephen Soldz impressed me with part of his personal statement as to why he helped lead the drive to end psychologists’ participation in U.S. torture programs.

He said he refused to be a person “…who does not stand up when I have the opportunity.  I can’t live with myself if that’s the case,” he said.

I’ve always admired those who did. This was my time to do it. And I knew that if a few of us did not keep it up, this policy would keep on. 

[I] couldn’t live with that.

United Nations CONVENTION AGAINST TORTURE and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment

The Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (the ‘Torture Convention’) was adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 10, 1984 (resolution 39/46) and entered into force on June 26, 1987, after it had been ratified by 20 States. The Torture Convention was the result of many years’ work, initiated soon after the adoption of the Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Being Subjected to Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (the ‘Torture Declaration’) by the General Assembly on December 9, 1975 (resolution 3452 (XXX)). http://legal.un.org/avl/ha/catcidtp/catcidtp.html

Resolution introduction

 

The States Parties to this Convention AGAINST TORTURE and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment,

• Considering that, in accordance with the principles proclaimed in the Charter of the United Nations, recognition of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,

• Recognizing that those rights derive from the inherent dignity of the human person,

• Considering the obligation of States under the Charter, in particular Article 55, to promote universal respect for, and observance of, human rights and fundamental freedoms,

• Having regard to article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, both of which provide that no one may be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment,

• Having regard also to the Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Being Subjected to Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, adopted by the General Assembly on 9 December 1975 (resolution 3452 (XXX)),

• Desiring to make more effective the struggle against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment throughout the world, …

Sources and notes

Reisner biographical note, http://www.cja.org/article.php?id=798

Soldz biographical note, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Soldz

Democracy Now program segment: “No More Torture: World’s Largest Group of Psychologists Bans Role in National Security Interrogations,” Monday, August 10, 2015, http://www.democracynow.org/2015/8/10/no_more_torture_world_s_largest

“By a nearly unanimous vote, the American Psychological Association’s Council of Representatives voted Friday to adopt a new policy barring psychologists from participating in national security interrogations. The resolution also puts the APA on the side of international law by barring psychologists from working at Guantánamo, CIA black sites and other settings deemed illegal under the Geneva Conventions or the U.N. Convention Against Torture, unless they are working directly for the persons being detained or for an independent third party working to protect human rights. The vote came at the APA’s first convention since the release of a report confirming the APA leadership actively colluded with the Pentagon and the CIA torture programs. The sole dissenter was retired Col. Larry James, former top Army intelligence psychologist at Guantánamo and Abu Ghraib.” The program’s guests included  “two of the leading dissident psychologists who have been pushing the APA to reverse its stance on interrogations for nearly a decade: Steven Reisner and Stephen Soldz, founding members of the Coalition for an Ethical Psychology.”

United Nations CONVENTION AGAINST TORTURE and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment

Articles excerpted where the word “torture is specifically mentioned in the Convention

States Parties to this Convention AGAINST TORTURE and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment …Have agreed as follows:

Part I - Article 1

1.     For the purposes of this Convention, torture means any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions.

2. This article is without prejudice to any international instrument or national legislation which does or may contain provisions of wider application.

Article 2

1. Each State Party shall take effective legislative, administrative, judicial or other measures to prevent acts of torture in any territory under its jurisdiction.

2. No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat or war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture. 

3. An order from a superior officer or a public authority may not be invoked as a justification of torture.

Article 3

 1. No State Party shall expel, return ("refouler") or extradite a person to another State where there are substantial grounds for believing that he would be in danger of being subjected to torture. 

2. For the purpose of determining whether there are such grounds, the competent authorities shall take into account all relevant considerations including, where applicable, the existence in the State concerned of a consistent pattern of gross, flagrant or mass violations of human rights.

Article 4

1. Each State Party shall ensure that all acts of torture are offences under its criminal law. The same shall apply to an attempt to commit torture and to an act by any person which constitutes complicity or participation in torture. 

2. Each State Party shall make these offences punishable by appropriate penalties which take into account their grave nature.

Article 10

1. Each State Party shall ensure that education and information regarding the prohibition against torture are fully included in the training of law enforcement personnel, civil or military, medical personnel, public officials and other persons who may be involved in the custody, interrogation or treatment of any individual subjected to any form of arrest, detention or imprisonment. 

2. Each State Party shall include this prohibition in the rules or instructions issued in regard to the duties and functions of any such persons.

Article 11

Each State Party shall keep under systematic review interrogation rules, instructions, methods and practices as well as arrangements for the custody and treatment of persons subjected to any form of arrest, detention or imprisonment in any territory under its jurisdiction, with a view to preventing any cases of torture.

Article 12

Each State Party shall ensure that its competent authorities proceed to a prompt and impartial investigation, wherever there is reasonable ground to believe that an act of torture has been committee in any territory under its jurisdiction.

Article 13

Each State Party shall ensure that any individual who alleges he has been subjected to torture in any territory under its jurisdiction has the right to complain to and to have his case promptly and impartially examined its competent authorities. Steps shall be taken to ensure that the complainant and witnesses are protected against all ill-treatment or intimidation as a consequence of his complaint or any evidence given.

Article 14

1. Each State Party shall ensure in its legal system that the victim of an act of torture obtains redress and has an enforceable right to fair and adequate compensation including the means for as full rehabilitation as possible. In the event of the death of the victim as a result of an act of torture, his dependents shall be entitled to compensation. 

2. Nothing in this article shall affect any right of the victim or other person to compensation which may exist under national law. 

Article 15

Each State Party shall ensure that any statement which is established to have been made as a result of torture shall not be invoked as evidence in any proceedings, except against a person accused of torture as evidence that the statement was made.

Article 17

1. There shall be established a Committee against Torture (hereinafter referred to as the Committee) which shall carry out the functions hereinafter provided. The Committee shall consist of 10 experts of high moral standing and recognized competence in the field of human rights, who shall serve in their personal capacity. The experts shall be elected by the States Parties, consideration being given to equitable geographical distribution and to the usefulness of the participation of some persons having legal experience. 

2. The members of the Committee shall be elected by secret ballot from a list of persons nominated by States Parties. Each State Party may nominate one person from among its own nationals. States Parties shall bear in mind the usefulness of nominating persons who are also members of the Human Rights Committee established under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and are willing to serve on the Committee against Torture.  …

Article 20

Coalition For an Ethical Psychology
Trudy Bond
Stephen Soldz
Roy Eidelson
Stephen Reisner
Brad Olson
Jean Maria Arrigo

1.     If the Committee receives reliable information which appears to it to contain well-founded indications that torture is being systematically practised in the territory of a State Party, the Committee shall invite that State Party to co-operate in the examination of the information and to this end to submit observations with regard to the information concerned.  …

United Nations CONVENTION AGAINST TORTURE  and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, http://www.hrweb.org/legal/cat.html

“The COALITION FOR AN ETHICAL PSYCHOLOGY is dedicated to putting psychology on a firm ethical foundation in support of social justice and human rights. The Coalition has been in the lead of efforts to remove psychologists from torture and abusive interrogations.” http://ethicalpsychology.org/resources/reclaiming-our-profession.php

_________________________________________________

A lifelong American writer and writer/activist (former academic and staffer with the U.S. government in Washington), Dr. Carolyn LaDelle Bennett is credentialed in education and print journalism and public affairs (PhD, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan; MA, The American University, Washington, DC). Her work concerns itself with news and current affairs, historical contexts, and ideas particularly related to acts and consequences of U.S. foreign relations, geopolitics, human rights, war and peace, and violence and nonviolence. Dr. Bennett is an internationalist and nonpartisan progressive personally concerned with society and the common good. An educator at heart, her career began with the U.S. Peace Corps, teaching in Sierra Leone, West Africa. Since then, she has authored several books and numerous current-affairs articles; her latest book: UNCONSCIONABLE: How The World Sees Us: World News, Alternative Views, Commentary on U.S. Foreign Relations; most thoughts, articles, edited work are posted at Bennett’s Study: http://todaysinsightnews.blogspot.com/ and on her Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/carolynladelle.bennett. http://www.prweb.com/releases/2014/08UNCONSCIONABLE/prweb12131656.htm http://bookstore.xlibris.com/Products/SKU-000757788/UNCONSCIONABLE.aspx Her books are also available at independent bookstores in New York State: Lift Bridge in Brockport; Sundance in Geneseo; Dog Ears Bookstore and Literary Arts Center in Buffalo; Burlingham Books in Perry; The Bookworm in East Aurora
_________________________________________________