FBI funding Sweden 'terror' research
The Local Sweden - [email protected]
Published: 26 Jan, 2015 CET.
Updated: Mon 26 Jan 2015 08:28 CET
Research grants to fund the study of controversial interrogation methods at the University of Gothenburg have come from America's Federal Bureau of Investigation, it has emerged.
The Department of Psychology at the university has been given five million kronor ($600,000) for projects looking into interview and interrogation techniques, as part of research aimed at stopping future terror attacks in Sweden and beyond. One aspect of the research involves looking closely at how to find out if an interviewee is lying or telling the truth about their intentions. The revelations emerged on Monday, with Swedish broadcaster SVT questioning the university about how advisable it was to have the FBI as a financial backer. The FBI alongside the CIA (America's Central Intelligence Agency) has been linked to a number of controversies about harsh interrogation techniques in recent decades. Pär Anders Granhag at the Department of Psychology, University of Gothenburg told SVT that the research was ethical and said that "the FBI did not tell us what to research." He added that all the material would be made publically available after the study. Granhag was also quick to differentiate between the FBI and the CIA, the latter of which has faced far more serious questions about interrogation techniques involving torture. "The CIA has rightly been criticized for how it interrogated people during the Bush administration. We distance ourselves greatly from that." He described the research as having "great social value," adding that the research group was supported by human rights organizations including Human Rights First.
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The Department of Psychology at the university has been given five million kronor ($600,000) for projects looking into interview and interrogation techniques, as part of research aimed at stopping future terror attacks in Sweden and beyond.
One aspect of the research involves looking closely at how to find out if an interviewee is lying or telling the truth about their intentions.
The revelations emerged on Monday, with Swedish broadcaster SVT questioning the university about how advisable it was to have the FBI as a financial backer.
The FBI alongside the CIA (America's Central Intelligence Agency) has been linked to a number of controversies about harsh interrogation techniques in recent decades.
Pär Anders Granhag at the Department of Psychology, University of Gothenburg told SVT that the research was ethical and said that "the FBI did not tell us what to research."
He added that all the material would be made publically available after the study.
Granhag was also quick to differentiate between the FBI and the CIA, the latter of which has faced far more serious questions about interrogation techniques involving torture.
"The CIA has rightly been criticized for how it interrogated people during the Bush administration. We distance ourselves greatly from that."
He described the research as having "great social value," adding that the research group was supported by human rights organizations including Human Rights First.
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