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August 2010_june_july_2009.qxd 30/08/2010 4:00 PM Page 32 32 MKULTRA - A True Case Against the CIA MKULTRA - A True Case Against the CIA Continued from Page 31 Frank Olson, an Army biochemist and biological weapons researcher, was given LSD without his knowledge or consent in 1953 as part of a CIA experiment and apparently committed suicide a week later following a severe psychotic episode. A CIA doctor assigned to monitor Olson's recovery was The Allen Memorial Institute in Montreal where Dr Ewen Cameron experimented on supposedly asleep in another bed in a New York unware patients. city hotel room when Olson jumped through the 13th story window to his death. (Olson's son disputes this version of events, and maintains have been in accord with the intent of particular suits would call into question military that his father was murdered due to his Department of the Army policies governing use discipline and decision making would itself knowledge of secret US biological weapon of volunteers in research." The inspector require judicial inquiry into, and hence intrusion deployment during the Korean War.) general also noted that "the evidence clearly upon, military matters." In dissent, Justice Subsequent reports would show that reflected that every possible medical William Brennan argued that the need to another person, Harold Blauer, a professional consideration was observed by the professional preserve military discipline should not protect tennis player in New York City, died as a result investigators at the Medical Research the government from liability and punishment of a secret Army experiment involving Laboratories." This conclusion, if accurate, is in for serious violations of constitutional rights: mescaline. striking contrast to what took place at the CIA. The medical trials at Nuremberg in 1947 The congressional committee In Canada the issue took much longer to deeply impressed upon the world that investigating the CIA research, chaired by surface, becoming widely known in 1984 on a experimentation with unknowing human Senator Frank Church, concluded that "[p]rior CBC newshow, The Fifth Estate. It was learned subjects is morally and legally unacceptable. consent was obviously not obtained from any of that not only had the CIA funded Dr. Cameron's The United States Military Tribunal established the subjects. "'we have no answer to the moral efforts, but perhaps even more shockingly, the the Nuremberg Code as a standard against issue.'" The committee noted that the Canadian government was fully aware of this, which to judge German scientists who "experiments sponsored by these researchers . . and had later provided another $500,000 in experimented with human subjects. . . . [I]n . call into question the decision by the agencies funding to continue the experiments. This defiance of this principle, military intelligence not to fix guidelines for experiments." revelation largely derailed efforts by the victims officials . . . began surreptitiously testing (Documents show that the CIA participated in at to sue the CIA as their American counterparts chemical and biological materials, including least two of the DOD committees whose had, and the Canadian government eventually LSD. discussions, in 1952, led up to the issuance of settled out-of-court for $100,000 to each of the Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, writing a the Wilson memorandum.) 127 victims. separate dissent, stated: Following the recommendations of the No judicially crafted rule should Church Committee, President Gerald Ford in Legal Issues Involving Informed insulate from liability the involuntary and 1976 issued the first Executive Order on Consent unknowing human experimentation alleged to Intelligence Activities which, among other have occurred in this case. Indeed, as Justice things, prohibited "experimentation with drugs The revelations about the CIA and the Brennan observes, the United States played an on human subjects, except with the informed Army prompted a number of subjects or their instrumental role in the criminal prosecution of consent, in writing and witnessed by a survivors to file lawsuits against the federal Nazi officials who experimented with human disinterested party, of each such human subject" government for conducting illegal experiments. subjects during the Second World War, and the and in accordance with the guidelines issued by Although the government aggressively, and standards that the Nuremberg Military the National Commission. Subsequent orders by sometimes successfully, sought to avoid legal Tribunals developed to judge the behavior of the Presidents Carter and Reagan expanded the liability, several plaintiffs did receive defendants stated that the 'voluntary consent of directive to apply to any human compensation through court order, out-of-court the human subject is absolutely essential . . . to experimentation. settlement, or acts of Congress. Frank Olson's satisfy moral, ethical, and legal concepts.' If Following on the heels of the revelations family received $750,000 by a special act of this principle is violated, the very least that about CIA experiments were similar stories Congress, and both President Ford and CIA society can do is to see that the victims are about the Army. In response, in 1975 the director William Colby met with Olson's family compensated, as best they can be, by the secretary of the Army instructed the Army to publicly apologize. perpetrators. inspector general to conduct an investigation. Previously, the CIA and the Army had This is the only Supreme Court case to Among the findings of the inspector general actively and successfully, sought to withhold address the application of the Nuremberg Code was the existence of the then-still-classified incriminating information, even as they secretly to experimentation sponsored by the U.S. 1953 Secretary of Defense Wilson provided compensation to the families. One government. And while the suit was memorandum. subject of Army drug experimentation, James unsuccessful, dissenting opinions put the In response to the inspector general's Stanley, an Army sergeant, brought an Army—and by association the entire investigation, the Wilson memorandum was important, albeit unsuccessful, suit. The government—on notice that use of individuals declassified in August 1975. The inspector government argued that Stanley was barred without their consent is unacceptable. The general also found that the requirements of the from suing it under a legal doctrine--known as limited application of the Nuremberg Code in 1953 memorandum had, at least in regard to the Feres doctrine, after a 1950 Supreme Court U.S. courts does not detract from the power of Army drug testing, been essentially followed as case, Feres v. United States--that prohibits the principles it espouses, especially in light of written. The Army used only "volunteers" for its members of the Armed Forces from suing the stories of failure to follow these principles that drug-testing program, with one or two government for any harms that were inflicted appeared in the media and professional exceptions. However, the inspector general "incident to service." literature during the 1960s and 1970s and the concluded that the "volunteers were not fully In 1987, the Supreme Court affirmed policies eventually adopted in the mid-1970s. informed, as required, prior to their this defense in a 5-4 decision that dismissed participation; and the methods of procuring Stanley's case. The majority argued that "a test This story Continues on their services, in many cases, appeared not to for liability that depends on the extent to which Page 33