Archiving Human Rights for Advocacy, Justice and Memory
Getting the big picture: using tactical mapping in the United States
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Tactical mapping has served as a valuable tool for Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) in its work against United States torture policies. The mapping process helped reinforce and clarify PHR’s approaches in mobilizing health professionals to oppose not only Bush Administration practices but also the involvement of health professionals in implementing abusive interrogation techniques.

“The emphasis on specific relationships and their connections to other ‘players’ within the big picture is an extremely useful approach,” PHR reports, “and it helps to impose a necessary degree of discipline in the planning process.” 

Also at the Center for Victims of Torture gathering using New Tactics facilitation, PHR made a networking connection with Human Rights First, and the two groups collaborated on a medical, psychological, and legal analysis on “enhanced interrogation techniques.” The joint report, called “Leave No Marks,” found that interrogators were at serious risk for war crimes prosecution. The work attracted attention in Congress and helped lead the American Psychological Association to a stronger position regarding the involvement of psychologists in U.S. interrogation policy.

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