Mormon church appointee aided CIA on terror
Controversial techniques included waterboarding
Jim Camden The Spokesman-Review
A Spokane psychologist who helped develop controversial interrogation methods, which some human rights groups say amount to torture, became the new spiritual leader of a Mormon congregation on the South Hill this week.
Bruce Jessen was proposed by Spokane Stake President James Lee, or “called” in the terminology of the Mormon faith, to be the bishop of Spokane’s 6th Ward, approved by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints hierarchy in Salt Lake City and presented to the congregation on Sunday. He was unanimously accepted by some 200 in attendance, Lee said.
As a bishop – an unpaid, part-time position that usually lasts several years – Jessen will take confessions and help people with their personal problems, Lee said. “They just try to help people with their lives, marriages or finances,” he said.
The appointment surprised some groups who have denounced Jessen and his then-partner James Mitchell for techniques they helped develop for the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency to interrogate suspected terrorists after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Among those techniques were sleep deprivation and waterboarding, according to a 2009 U.S. Senate committee report.
“I can think of no one less qualified for a position of moral and spiritual leadership,” Shahid Battar, executive director of the Bill of Rights Defense Committee, which describes itself as a national grass-roots network for civil rights, civil liberties and the rule of law.
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