Aubrey Levin
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Aubrey Levin (born 18 December 1938) is a South African-born Canadian psychiatrist and former colonel in the
South African Defence Force The South African Defence Force (SADF) (Afrikaans: ''Suid-Afrikaanse Weermag'') comprised the armed forces of South Africa from 1957 until 1994. Shortly before the state reconstituted itself as a republic in 1961, the former Union Defence Fo ...
who used abusive procedures on homosexual army conscripts and conscientious objectors in an attempt to cure them of suspected same-sex attraction in apartheid era South Africa. During the 1970s and 1980s, Levin subjected many homosexual men and women to electroshock or
chemical castration Chemical castration is castration via anaphrodisiac drugs, whether to reduce libido and sexual activity, management of cancer, to treat cancer, or otherwise. Unlike orchiectomy, surgical castration, where the gonads are removed through an incision ...
, and over 900 conscripts were forced to undergo involuntary
sexual reassignment surgery Gender-affirming surgery (GAS) is a surgical procedure, or series of procedures, that alters a person's physical appearance and sexual characteristics to resemble those associated with their gender identity. The phrase is most often associated ...
. In 1995 Levin moved to
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
and acquired a license to practice medicine. He became professor of clinical
psychiatry Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of deleterious mental disorder, mental conditions. These include matters related to cognition, perceptions, Mood (psychology), mood, emotion, and behavior. ...
at the
University of Calgary {{Infobox university , name = University of Calgary , image = University of Calgary coat of arms without motto scroll.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms , former ...
. In 2010 he was arrested for sexual assault of a patient; thirty men claimed they were assaulted by Levin during counseling. Levin was tried and convicted for assault, sentenced to five years in prison, and his medical license was suspended.


Early life

Levin was born on 18 December 1938 in
Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...
,
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
His father was the first Jewish member of the
National Party National Party or Nationalist Party may refer to: Active parties * National Party of Australia, commonly known as ''The Nationals'' * Bangladesh: ** Bangladesh Nationalist Party ** Jatiya Party (Ershad) a.k.a. ''National Party (Ershad)'' * Californ ...
; This was first published in South Africa's ''The Sunday Independent'' on March 28, 2010. a party that promoted white
Afrikaner nationalism Afrikaner nationalism () is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnic nationalistic political ideology created by Afrikaners residing in Southern Africa during the Victorian era. The ideology was developed in response to the significant events in Afrikaner ...
and ruled as the leading governing party in South Africa until the end of apartheid.


Education

Levin completed high school in 1954 and began his medical studies at the
University of Pretoria The University of Pretoria (, ) is a multi-campus public university, public research university in Pretoria, the administrative and ''de facto'' capital of South Africa. The university was established in 1908 as the Pretoria campus of the Johan ...
supported by a
South African Defence Force The South African Defence Force (SADF) (Afrikaans: ''Suid-Afrikaanse Weermag'') comprised the armed forces of South Africa from 1957 until 1994. Shortly before the state reconstituted itself as a republic in 1961, the former Union Defence Fo ...
(SADF) scholarship. In 1968, while he was completing his studies to earn his license as a psychiatrist, he submitted a letter to the Secretary of the South African Parliament in Cape Town, to request that he present his work using electric shocks as a treatment for "homosexuals and lesbians", before the Select Committee on the Immorality Amendment Act. Some of his colleagues called him Dr Shock. He qualified as a psychiatrist in 1969.


South African Defence Force

Because of his license as a psychiatrist, he was given the rank of Colonel when he joined the
South African Defence Force The South African Defence Force (SADF) (Afrikaans: ''Suid-Afrikaanse Weermag'') comprised the armed forces of South Africa from 1957 until 1994. Shortly before the state reconstituted itself as a republic in 1961, the former Union Defence Fo ...
(SADF). In 1971 he became Team Leader at SADF's Drug Rehabilitation Program at Ward 22 of 1 Military Hospital at Voortrekkerhoogte, near
Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...
.


The Aversion Project

It was at 1 Military Hospital, Voortrekkerhoogte, which is now known as Thaba Tshwane, that Levin developed combinations of electric shock and drug treatments for SADF conscripts that had been classified as "deviant." This included those who smoked marijuana or who were homosexual. Levin's work for the SADF, in which he used
aversion therapy Aversion therapy is a form of psychological treatment in which the patient is exposed to a stimulus while simultaneously being subjected to some form of discomfort. This conditioning is intended to cause the patient to associate the stimulus wit ...
, became the subject of much scrutiny at the end of the apartheid era. While working at Voortrekkerhoogte, Levin travelled to Greefswald, in an isolated region of northern South Africa, where he was the attending psychiatrist. The Greefswald military detention barracks had a "notorious reputation for the harsh treatment of conscripts," intended to cure conscripts of supposed vices and conscientious objections. Life in Greefswald has been described in detail by one of his former patients,
Gordon Torr Gordon Torr (born 17 October 1953) is a former Global Creative Director of JWT, and author of ''Managing Creative People: Lessons for Leadership in the Ideas Economy'' (2008), published by John Wiley & Sons. His second novel, ''Kill Yourself a ...
, in his 2014 novel, ''Kill Yourself and Count to 10''. In 2013, members of the Greefswald Facebook group followed Levin's 4-month long trial in Alberta, Canada and were overjoyed when he was found guilty. A ''Global New'' journalist interviewed some of the members who were then living in Australia, Denmark, among other countries. They still bear psychic scars from their Greefswald experiences, which some described as "torture". They said that they had called Greefswald "The Vault". Levin, whom they called "Bubbles" for his weight, was known for his "brutal authority to the young men." Many of them were only teenagers when they were traumatized at Greefswald and the "focus of their anger was Aubrey Levin." From 1975 to 1981, Levin also worked at Addington Hospital in
Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...
and at Fort England Psychiatric Hospital in Grahamstown; now called
Makhanda, Eastern Cape Makhanda, formerly known as Grahamstown, is a town of about 75,000 people in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated about northeast of Gqeberha and southwest of East London. It is the largest town in the Makana Local Mun ...
. Updated April 8, 2020 He performed chemical castrations at the hospitals. A 2014 ''Salon'' article said that up to 900 people, who had been involuntarily drafted into the South African army, many of them aged 16 to 24 years old, were "subjected to forced sexual reassignment surgeries" (SRS). Following these forced, invasive, and often incomplete SRS, for example, by removing male organs, those forced to go through the SRS, who could not afford the "expensive hormones" intended to "maintain their new sexual identities", were left without any further assistance. From 1971 to 1989, people characterized as homosexual were "submitted to chemical castrations and electric shock treatment" as an alleged cure for homosexuality.


Publications documenting Levin's role in the Aversion Project

In 1994, with the end of
apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English:  , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...
, South Africa's
Truth and Reconciliation Commission A truth commission, also known as a truth and reconciliation commission or truth and justice commission, is an official body tasked with discovering and revealing past wrongdoing by a government (or, depending on the circumstances, non-state ac ...
(TRC) heard testimony regarding the controversial nature of The Aversion Project Levin ran while in the SADF, details of which were published in 1999. In the report he was referred to as the "Colonel." In June 1997, the Health and Human Rights Project (HHRP) submitted its report to the TRC in which Levin was singled out as a key figure in the "torture" of gay men in the SADF. In an interview with ''The Guardian'' in 2000, Levin said that his aversion therapy only caused slight pain and all his patients wanted to be cured. The HHRC, a collaborative program, was established in 1997 by the
University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) (, ) is a public university, public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university status in 1918, making it the oldest univer ...
's School of Public Health and Family Medicine, where it is located, and the Cape Town-based NGO, the Trauma Centre for Survivors of Violence and Torture. In October 1999, the 132-page report entitled "The Aversion Project: human rights abuses of gays and lesbians in the SADF by health workers during the apartheid era", funded by the
Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust The Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust (JRCT) is a philanthropic grant-making trust that supports work undertaken in the UK and Ireland, and previously South Africa. It is one of three original trusts set up by Joseph Rowntree in 1904. The Trust ...
and commissioned by South Africa's medical research council and human rights groups, was published. The report was commissioned by on behalf of Gay and Lesbian Archives, Health and Human Rights Project, Medical Research Council, National Coalition for Gay and Lesbian Equality. In 2000, ''The Daily Mail'' and ''Guardian'' published a "chilling investigative series", including a July 2000 article published by ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' which provided details on the report. The same journalist also reported on Levin's sexual abuse trial in 2012 in Alberta, Canada. In an interview with ''The Guardian'' in 2000, Levin said that his aversion therapy only caused slight pain and all his patients wanted to be cured. In March 2001, Robert M. Caplan published his article on the report in the
South African Medical Journal The ''South African Medical Journal'' is a monthly peer-reviewed open-access medical journal which has been published in South Africa since 1884. It is sponsored by the South African Medical Association and published by the association's publishin ...
(SAMJ). In it Levin was referred to as the Colonel.url
/ref> The report "detailed castration and electric shocks". Starting in 2010, journalists in South Africa began to publish in-depth articles about Levin role during the apartheid era, providing a backdrop to charges brought against him in Canada. Headlines included "Dr Shock is in the dock", Terry Bell, the author of the 2003 non-fiction, ''Unfinished business: South Africa, apartheid, and truth'', wrote an article entitled "In pursuit of 'Dr Shock'" in which he decried the way in which Levin had evaded justice in South Africa. A 2014 ''
AlterNet AlterNet is a left-leaning news website based in the United States. It was launched by the Independent Media Institute. In 2018, the website was acquired by owners of '' Raw Story''. Coverage Coverage is divided into several special sections re ...
'' article, republished in ''
Salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment that provides Cosmetics, cosmetic treatments for people. Other variations of this type of business include hair salons, spas, day spas, ...
'', listed the Aversion Project, which was undertaken in South-Africa during the apartheid era, as one of the top ten "most evil medical experiments". In 2014, one of Levin's former patients,
Gordon Torr Gordon Torr (born 17 October 1953) is a former Global Creative Director of JWT, and author of ''Managing Creative People: Lessons for Leadership in the Ideas Economy'' (2008), published by John Wiley & Sons. His second novel, ''Kill Yourself a ...
, wrote a novel entitled ''Kill Yourself and Count to 10'' about a fictional SADF conscript who was mistakenly thrust into a brutal reeducation program, run by a rogue psychiatrist who used the young men as his experimental toys. Torr based the novel on his own experience in the apartheid era Greefswald camp in the "Northern province where anyone considered unfit for the Nationalist army’s Calvinist-scripted needs was sent for rehabilitation."


Saskatchewan, Canada

In 1995 Levin was working at the Fort England Hospital in Grahamstown, when he learned that the
Truth and Reconciliation Commission A truth commission, also known as a truth and reconciliation commission or truth and justice commission, is an official body tasked with discovering and revealing past wrongdoing by a government (or, depending on the circumstances, non-state ac ...
(TRC) report had named him as one of the abusers of human rights. His successor said that Levin had "left in such a hurry" that he did not pack his office". His belongings had to be sent by post to Saskatchewan, Canada where he had emigrated. He said that his reason for emigrating was "only because of the high crime rate" in South Africa and he "denied the accusations against him." In 1995, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of
Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...
, Canada gave Levin a licence to practice in Saskatchewan. In
Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...
,
Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...
, Levin was for a short time the Regional Psychiatric Centre's regional director. In the late 1990s, the TRC requested that Levin testify in South Africa to respond to the claims against him in the submission made by the Health and Human Rights Project (HHRP). Levin threatened legal action and refused to appear at the TRC hearings. The final TRC report did not identify Levin by name. He was referred to as a psychologist (not a psychiatrist) who "practiced aversion therapy".


Alberta, Canada

In 1998 the HHRP sent a letter to the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta (CPSA) in which they informed the CPSA of Levin's background. They did not receive any response. In the same year, the CPSA gave Levin a licence to work in the practice medicine in Alberta. He worked as a psychiatrist and academic in Alberta from 1998 until his licence was suspended in 2010. By 2000, Levin was working in a teaching hospital in Calgary, Alberta.


Sexual assault charges

In March 2010, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta suspended Levin's license over accusations of abuse after a male patient secretly filmed the psychiatrist allegedly making sexual advances. By July 2010, 30 other men had come forward, claiming they were assaulted by Levin during counseling sessions, according to the police. On 11 October 2012, Levin went to trial at the Court of Queen's Bench in Calgary. His legal defence had failed to convince a pre-trial hearing that Levin was mentally unfit to stand trial. The Crown decided to go ahead with nine of the original 21 cases. During the trial, a jury was shown the graphic video of Levin touching a patient, which had been secretly recorded on the patient's amera wristwatch On 28 January 2013, a jury found Levin guilty of three charges of sexual assault against male patients, not guilty of two other charges of sexual assault, while a
mistrial In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, ...
was declared in reference to a further four counts. He was convicted of "sexual assaulting three of his patients between 2008 and 2010." On 31 January 2013, Levin became a registered sex offender, as a result of the convictions. His registration requirements were due to last for 20 years. A May 2013 CBC article questioned how "justice officials, the academic community" and the Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons had not been aware of Levin's history. A crown prosecutor said that the right hand did not know what the left hand was doing.


Obstruction of justice

On 7 February 2013, police arrested Levin's wife Erica Levin, then aged 69, and charged her with obstruction of justice for alleging attempting to bribe a juror. The juror said she was approached on a train platform in January and offered $1,000 or $10,000 in a white envelope, to bring in a not-guilty verdict. The juror informed police and was subsequently dismissed. Although Court of Queen's Bench Justice Karen Horner said that Levin's actions were both "selfish" and "reckless", she considered Levin's plea of post-traumatic stress disorder and depression, and sentenced her to an "18-month conditional sentence with house arrest and 180 hours of community service."


Release on bail

Despite a 5-year prison sentence, Levin was released on $15,000 bail on 13 February 2013. The judge said that since his license to practice medicine has been suspended, he is "not a danger to the public."


Court of Appeal of Alberta

On 23 April 2014 the
Court of Appeal of Alberta The Court of Appeal of Alberta (frequently referred to as Alberta Court of Appeal or ABCA) is a Canadian appellate court that serves as the highest appellate court in the jurisdiction of Alberta, subordinate to the Supreme Court of Canada. Jur ...
, in a unanimous decision, upheld the 2013 conviction. Levin was ordered to report, within 48 hours, to begin a five-year sentence at an unnamed institution. Respondents: C.J.A. C.A. Fraser, J.A. C.M. Conrad, J.A. J.D.B. McDonald Appellant: Aubrey Levin Docket: 1301-0019-A


Early release from prison

In 2016, CBC obtained information that the
Parole Board of Canada The Parole Board of Canada (PBC; ; formerly known as the National Parole Board) is the Canadian government agency that is responsible for reviewing and issuing parole and criminal pardons in Canada. It operates under the auspices of Public Sa ...
had granted Levin day parole. By March 2016 he was living in a halfway house. The 76-year-old had requested full pardon. Levin told the Parole Board that the "victims lied and that the police and the courts...had it in for im. Assessments included a "scathing" psychological evaluation, and statements that Levin appeared to "have little concern for isvictims, that he was "manipulative" and presented himself as "victim of the system." Levin denied that he had "any sexual motive or basis for your sexual offences" and that he was not "aware that what he was doing was a criminal act in Canada as it's allowed in his home country of South Africa." On 1 February 2023, Levin applied for release from sex offender registration. Then aged 84, elderly, infirm, cognitively impaired, and allegedly unable to meet the physical registration requirements, Levin then of Vancouver was granted early termination when the Crown did not oppose.


References


External links

* The report was commissioned by on behalf of Gay and Lesbian Archives, Health and Human Rights Project, Medical Research Council, National Coalition for Gay and Lesbian Equality.
url
{{DEFAULTSORT:Levin, Aubrey Academic staff of the University of Calgary 1938 births Living people South African psychiatrists Military psychiatrists Sexual orientation change efforts South African military personnel of the Border War South African Jews White South African people South African emigrants to Canada