• Issues
• Torture
  • US Torture
    • State Anti-Torture Legislation
      • Take Action, MA!
        • MA Legislation
      • NY Legislation
  • Global Anti-Torture
• Mass Atrocities
• Rape in War
• Persecution of Health Workers

Take Action, Massachusetts!

Support legislation, sign a petition, host screenings of the film Doctors of the Dark Side, write a letter, and more:

• Support the MA Bill that prevents health care professionals’ participation in detainee torture. Sign PHR's petitionto support legislation that sanctions Massachusetts health care professionals who:
  • assist in torture,
  • participate in the direct interrogation of prisoners, or
  • fail to report prisoner abuse.
  Read the bill and download this one-page information sheet (PDF).
• Support the award-winning documentary Doctors of the Dark Side, the film that exposes how psychologists and physicians implemented and covered up the torture of detainees in US controlled military prisons.
• Host a screening of the film in your home, your school, or your community center. Visit the Host a Screening page at the Doctors of the Dark Side website for more information.
• Tell your friends. “Like” the film on Facebook and Tweet about the film: #doctorsdarkside, @doctorsdarkside, http://doctorsofthedarkside.com.
• Write a Letter to the Editor or an Op-Ed to your school, local, or regional newspaper with a call for support of the MA bill or a positive review of the film. See PHR's Student Chapter Toolkit for tips on successful letters.
• Contact your local health care professional association and ask them to:
• Endorse the MA legislative campaign.
• Pass a resolution that prohibits doctors and other health care professionals from participating in torture. For an example, see the American Psychiatric Association’s statement (pdf).
• Sign the petition to rescind the Psychological Ethics and National Security (PENS) Report. The PENS policy supports doctor participation in interrogations, a practice that the American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, and other health and human rights organizations have declared is unethical and in violation of good standards of healthcare.
• Resources:
• Download PHR’s 1-page information sheet (PDF) about the MA legislation.
• Read the MA bill.
• Learn more:
• December 2012 article in The Atlantic about a similar legislative initiative in New York State.
• Psychologists for Social Responsibility's Program on Human Rights and Psychology.
• When Healers Harm: An informative website on doctor involvement in torture.