John Francis Leso (born August 13, 1966)[1] is an American psychologist and a major in the United States Armed Services, who is reported to have aided interrogators at Guantanamo Bay detention camp.[2][3] Leso co-authored an October 2002 memo which "recommended physically and psychologically harmful and abusive detention and interrogation tactics", which were used on Mohammed al-Qahtani, the alleged 20th hijacker.[3] Information on Al-Qahtani's interrogation became public when a classified interrogation log was leaked to Time. Leso's name was included in the leaked log, which triggered debate in the medical community about the role of psychologists in supporting military interrogations. Debate is ongoing about the effectiveness and ethics of the interrogation techniques used with Al-Qhatani, as many consider them torture. Although some activist psychologists have criticized Leso for "directing" the interrogation of Al-Qhatani, scrutiny of public sources on the matter reveals that Leso's actual role and duties remain unclear.

Academic career

Leso attended Johns Hopkins University. Upon completion of his undergraduate degree Leso was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant. He received a Ph.D. in psychology from SUNY, in Albany New York, in 1995.

Professional career

Staff Psychologist at Walter Reed

In 2003 Leso was a staff psychologist at the Walter Reed Medical Center, in Maryland.[4]

Austrian Embassy

On August 24, 2005, a newsletter from the Albany University Psychology Department stated: "...and John Leso left Walter Reed and is now working in the U.S. Embassy in Austria."[5]

See also

Bibliography

  • James, L.C. (2008) Fixing Hell: An Army Psychologist Confronts Abu Ghraib. Grand Central Publishing.

References

  1. ↑ U.S. Public Records Index, Vols. 1 & 2 (Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.), 2010.
  2. ↑ Steven H. Miles (July 9, 2006). "Medical Oaths Betrayed". Washington Post. Retrieved May 29, 2007.
  3. 1 2 Eidelson, Roy J. (2015). ""No Cause for Action": Revisiting the Ethics Case of Dr. John Leso". Journal of Social and Political Psychology. 3: 198–212. doi:10.5964/jspp.v3i1.479.
  4. ↑ "Medical Service Corps Mentoring Survey Analysis". Archived from the original on July 16, 2007. Retrieved May 29, 2007.
  5. ↑ mlf, ddt (August 24, 2005). "Doctoral Program NOTES and NEWS". SUNY. Retrieved May 29, 2007.
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