TIME TO STOP TORTURE

By allowing, condoning, and ordering torture, the US has violated a number of international treaties as well as its own Constitution.

What are the laws concerning torture?

Amendment VIII of the US Constitution prohibits "cruel and unusual punishment".

Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) proclaims, "No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment."

The Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, ratified by the US in 1994, requires each contracting party to "take effective legislative, administrative, judicial or other measures to prevent acts of torture in any territory under its jurisdiction" and continues, "No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political in stability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture."

The Third Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War (1949) states: "No physical or mental torture, nor any other form of coercion, may be inflicted on prisoners of war to secure from them information of any kind whatever. Prisoners of war who refuse to answer may not be threatened, insulted, or exposed to any unpleasant or disadvantageous treatment of any kind."

The Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (1949) prohibits "violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture; outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment;" … and "the passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without previous judgment pronounced by a regularly constituted court, affording all the judicial guarantees which are recognized as indispensable by civilized peoples."

Is the US bound by these Conventions?

Treaties which the US has ratified are considered just as binding as any US law.

How does the US treat its prisoners of war and other foreign nationals in detention?

Since the publication of photos taken in Abu Ghraib, the practice of abuse, humiliation and torture by US prison personnel are undeniable, including torture resulting in death. Former prisoners in Bagram, Kandahar and Guantanamo have described being torture victims.

In 2003, the US may have crossed a new and particularly dangerous line with the publication of a report, classified "secret", in which civilian and military lawyers argue that, as commander in chief, the President has the authority to approve almost any interrogation methods including torture.

There is no justification for torture. The United States must act in accordance with international human rights and humanitarian law obligations. In flouting international law, the US is setting a dangerous precedent. US soldiers, if taken prisoner, will also require the protection of law. Governments that remain in power by instilling fear of imprisonment, torture or death are not governments of the choice of the people. The US government cannot hope to obtain security or democracy in Iraq by using these same repressive methods.