A prominent retired Oregon Health Science University psychology professor served on a CIA psychology advisory committee and played at least a limited role in helping the agency develop its post 9/11 enhanced-interrogation program, according to an exhaustive new report commissioned by the American Psychological Association.

Joseph MatarazzoOHSU  

After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Joseph Matarazzo, former chair of the OHSU medical psychology department, exhorted his fellow psychologists to use their expertise to help the U.S. government force information out of detainees, according to the new report.

"In this environment, things are different, and the CIA is going to need some help," Matarazzo reportedly told another psychologist at a 2002 conference in Singapore. "Things may get harsh. We may need to take the gloves off."

Matarazzo, now 89, could not be reached for comment Saturday. He told The Oregonian/OregonLive last December that he played no role in development of the CIA's controversial interrogation program, which included many aspects of psychological warfare. A CIA spokesman also said at the time Matarazzo was not involved in the program.

The 565-page APA report, released Friday, concludes otherwise.

Matarazzo, himself a former head of the American Psychological Association, early last decade agreed to serve on the CIA's Professional Standards Advisory Committee. The panel's role was primarily focused on psychological assessments of spies and potential spies. Kirk Hubbard, a CIA agent and psychologist, assembled the board in the belief the CIA was too insular and would benefit from outside advice.

The report claims that that some members of the committee, Matarazzo among them, helped with issues beyond the assessment of internal CIA agents. Matarazzo, the report states, was "also used by Hubbard and others at the CIA as consultants on a limited number of important issues to the interrogation program — for example, Matarazzo was asked to provide an opinion about whether sleep deprivation constituted torture."  

Matarazzo's conclusion: No, it did not.

The report says that between 2001 through 2004, "there was a great deal of interaction on issues related to interrogations between key CIA psychologists and both APA staff and prominent psychologists, who were considered elder statesmen in psychology or were former or current APA presidents. These interactions were occurring precisely during the time the CIA was using "enhanced interrogation techniques" — including waterboarding — in vigorous fashion against certain detainees.

That partnership has led to soul-searching and recriminations within the psychology industry. The new study concludes some elements within the American Psychological Association "colluded" with U.S. defense officials "to have APA issue loose, high-level ethical guidelines that did not constrain" the government's interrogation guidelines.

Matarazzo also had connections to two other psychologists, James Mitchell and Bruce Jessen, who have been frequently mentioned as playing instrumental roles in the development of the enhanced interrogation program.

Mitchell and Jessen helped develop the SERE program, intended to train soldiers and spies how to resist torture. Mitchell and Jessen allegedly reverse-engineered their own SERE program to create a program of waterboarding, isolation, sleep deprivation and humiliation carried out at so-called black sites around the globe.

Matarazzo went into business with Mitchell and Jessen, taking a small 1 percent equity stake in their Spokane, Washington-based company. Matarazzo has insisted that his involvement with the company was limited to developing a continuing education program for working psychologists.

The U.S. government paid $81 million to Mitchell Jessen Associates for work performed between 2005 and 2009.

Matarazzo worked as a professor at OHSU from 1957 to 1996. He chaired the medical psychology department and is currently listed as professor emeritus in behavioral neuroscience. 

The APA hired the law firm of Sidley Austin in November 2014 to conduct the study. It was released last week. 

--Jeff Manning

jmanning@oregonian.com
503-294-7606
@JeffmanningOre