Unethical Research and the C.I.A. Inspector General Report of 2004: Observations Implicit in Terms of the Common Rule

Declassification of documents has given rise to the allegation that the Central Intelligence Agency may have conducted unethical research targeting detainee subjects. That allegation is examined using document analysis and the development of research goals and roles as defined in the Common Rule. This article sets aside issues as to whether enhanced interrogation techniques described in the declassified documents rise to legal definitions of torture. Instead, it presents a post hoc ethics review raising questions addressed by Institutional Review Boards recommending the filing of a for-cause noncompliance complaint with the Office for Human Research Protection against the Central Intelligence Agency.