Letter to the Editor
Article Outline
To the Editor:
Dr. Wanda Mohr, deploring the torture perpetrated by Americans on prisoners at Guantanamo in an essay in the September-October issue of Nursing Outlook, called upon the American Academy of Nursing to develop a strong policy statement on torture and ratify it at the annual meeting.1 Dr. Mohr's commentary prompted me to search the archives of the journal that I edit, Issues in Mental Health Nursing. I remembered that the journal had published a policy statement on torture issued by the American Academy of Nursing in 2001.2 Brought forward to the larger body by the Expert Panel on Violence, the policy statement included 4 goals for the nursing profession: (1) incorporating the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights into nursing education and practice; (2) speaking forcefully and compassionately to denounce torture in all appropriate venues; (3) supporting the establishment of treatment centers for survivors of torture; and (4) conducting nursing research regarding the prevalence of torture and outcomes of treatment for victims. Additionally, the statement recommended support of a conference or institute on torture, inclusion of training in psychiatric nurse practitioner programs regarding treatment of victims, and several other actions of the Academy.2
It was interesting to me to read the Academy statement in the light of the atrocities perpetrated upon detainees at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo that have taken place since the statement was adopted in 2001. In the statement, emphasis was placed more so on nurses caring for victims of torture; the actual complicity of American health professionals in torture itself was not even envisioned. Countries such as Chile, South Africa, Turkey, Uruguay, and the former Soviet Union were listed as sites wherein complicity of medical professionals in torture had been documented.2 Given the revelations emerging from US military documents about forced nudity, sexual humiliation, and 20-hour interrogations,1 I believe it would be timely for the Academy to reaffirm its commitment to continue serving as “a voice of conscience against such cruel, inhuman practices.”2
References
PII: S0029-6554(09)00229-2
doi:10.1016/j.outlook.2009.11.004
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