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Waterboarding is a form of interrogation that consists of immobilizing a person on his or her back, with the head inclined downward, and pouring water over the face and into the breathing passages. Through forced suffocation and inhalation of water, the subject experiences the process of drowning and is made to believe that death is imminent. Some would call it torture but it is only reserved for the most evil of terrorists. It is an effective means of quickly getting information from a terrorist without doing any lasting physical damage. In contrast to merely submerging the head face-forward, waterboarding almost immediately elicits the gag reflex. Although waterboarding can be performed in ways that leave no lasting physical damage, it carries the risks of extreme pain, damage to the lungs, brain damage caused by oxygen deprivation, injuries (including broken bones) due to struggling against restraints, and even death. The psychological effects on victims of waterboarding can last for years after the procedure.

Waterboarding has been used in interrogations at least as early as the Spanish Inquisition. It has been used for interrogation purposes, to obtain information, coerce confessions, punish, and intimidate. Today it is considered to be torture by a wide range of authorities, including legal experts, politicians, war veterans, intelligence officials, military judges, and human rights organizations. Waterboarding gained recent attention and notoriety in the United States when the press reported that the CIA had used waterboarding in the interrogation of extrajudicial prisoners and that the Justice Department had authorized this procedure. The CIA has admitted waterboarding Al-Qaida suspects Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri.

Technique

The waterboarding technique was characterized in 2005 by former CIA director Porter J. Goss as a "professional interrogation technique." According to press accounts, a cloth or plastic wrap is placed over or in the person's mouth, and water is poured on to the person's head. As far as the details of this technique, press accounts differ - one article describes "dripping water into a wet cloth over a suspect's face", another states that "cellophane is wrapped over the prisoner's face and water is poured over him." CIA officers who have subjected themselves to the technique have lasted an average of 14 seconds before caving in.

Two televised segments, one from Fox News and one from Current TV, demonstrate a waterboarding technique that may be the subject of these press descriptions. In the videos, each correspondent is held against a board by the interrogators. In the Current TV segment, a rag is then forced into the correspondent's mouth, and several pitchers of water are poured onto the rag. The interrogators periodically remove the rag, and the correspondent is seen to gasp for breath. The Fox News segment mentions five "phases" of which the first three are shown. In the first phase, water is simply poured onto the correspondent's face. The second phase is similar to the Current TV episode. In phase three, plastic wrap is placed over the correspondent's face, and a hole is poked into it over his mouth. Water is poured into his mouth through the hole, causing him to gag. He mentions that it really does cause him to gag; that it could lead to asphyxiation; and that he could stand it for only a few seconds.

Dating back to the Spanish Inquisition, the technique has been favored because, unlike most other torture techniques, it produces no marks on the body. Information retrieved from the waterboarding may not be reliable because a person under such duress may admit to anything, as harsh interrogation techniques lead to false confessions. "The person believes they are being killed, and as such, it really amounts to a mock execution, which is illegal under international law," claims John Sifton of Human Rights Watch. It is "bad interrogation. I mean you can get anyone to confess to anything if the torture's bad enough," said former CIA officer Bob Baer. The Independent reports "legal experts said Khalid Sheikh Mohammed appeared to be exaggerating his role for his own self-aggrandizement and may also have deliberately floated false claims to send US investigators on wild goose chases."

Mental and physical effects

Dr. Allen Keller, the director of the Bellevue/N.Y.U. Program for Survivors of Torture, has treated "a number of people" who had been subjected to forms of near-asphyxiation, including waterboarding. An interview for The New Yorker states, " argued that it was indeed torture, 'Some victims were still traumatized years later', he said. One patient couldn't take showers, and panicked when it rained. 'The fear of being killed is a terrifying experience,' he said." Keller also stated in his testimony before the Senate that "Water-boarding or mock drowning, where a prisoner is bound to an inclined board and water is poured over their face, inducing a terrifying fear of drowning clearly can result in immediate and long-term health consequences. As the prisoner gags and chokes, the terror of imminent death is pervasive, with all of the physiologic and psychological responses expected, including an intense stress response, manifested by tachycardia (rapid heart beat) and gasping for breath. There is a real risk of death from actually drowning or suffering a heart attack or damage to the lungs from inhalation of water. Long term effects include panic attacks, depression and PTSD. I remind you of the patient I described earlier who would panic and gasp for breath whenever it rained even years after his abuse."

In an open letter to U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, Human Rights Watch claimed that waterboarding can cause the sort of "severe pain" prohibited by 18 USC 2340 (the implementation in the United States of the United Nations Convention Against Torture), that the psychological effects can last long after waterboarding ends (another of the criteria under 18 USC 2340), and that uninterrupted waterboarding can ultimately cause death.

Historical uses

Spanish Inquisition

A form of torture similar to waterboarding called toca, along with garrucha (or strappado) and the most frequently used potro (or the rack), was used (though infrequently) during the trial portion of the Spanish Inquisition process. "The toca, also called tortura del agua, consisted of introducing a cloth into the mouth of the victim, and forcing them to ingest water spilled from a jar so that they had the impression of drowning." One source has claimed that the use of water as a form of torture also had profound religious significance to the Inquisitors.

Colonial times

Agents of the Dutch East India Company used a precursor to waterboarding during the Amboyna massacre, which took place on the island of Amboyna in the Molucca Islands in 1623. At that time, it consisted of wrapping cloth around a victim's head, after which the torturers "poured the water softly upon his head until the cloth was full, up to the mouth and nostrils, and somewhat higher, so that he could not draw breath but he must suck in all the water." In one case, the torturer applied water three or four times successively until the victim's "body was swollen twice or thrice as big as before, his cheeks like great bladders, and his eyes staring and strutting out beyond his forehead."

After the Spanish-American War of 1898

After the Spanish American War of 1898 in the Philippines, the US Army used waterboarding which was called the “water cure” or “Chinese water torture.” at the time. Major Edwin Glenn was court martialed and sentanced to 10 years hard labour for waterboarding a suspected insurgent. President Theodore Roosevelt ordered the court-martial of the American General on the island of Samar for allowing his troops to waterboard, when the court-martial found only that he had acted with excessive zeal Roosevelt disregarded the verdict and had the General dismissed from the Army.

World War II

During World War II, Japanese troops, especially the Kempeitai, as well the Gestapo, the German secret police, used waterboarding as a method of torture. During the Japanese occupation of Singapore the Double Tenth Incident occured, this included waterboarding consisted of binding or holding down the victim on his back, placing a cloth over his mouth and nose, and pouring water onto the cloth. In this version, interrogation continued during the torture, with the interrogators beating the victim if he did not reply and the victim swallowing water if he opened his mouth to answer or breathe. When the victim could ingest no more water, the interrogators would beat or jump on his distended stomach.

Algerian War

The technique was also used during the Algerian War (1954-1962). The French journalist Henri Alleg, who was subjected to waterboarding by French paratroopers in Algeria in 1957, is one of only a few people to have described in writing the first-hand experience of being waterboarded. His book The Question, published in 1958 with a preface by Jean-Paul Sartre (and subsequently banned in France until the end of the Algerian War in 1962) discusses the experience of being strapped to a plank, having his head wrapped in cloth and positioned beneath a running tap:

The rag was soaked rapidly. Water flowed everywhere: in my mouth, in my nose, all over my face. But for a while I could still breathe in some small gulps of air. I tried, by contracting my throat, to take in as little water as possible and to resist suffocation by keeping air in my lungs for as long as I could. But I couldn't hold on for more than a few moments. I had the impression of drowning, and a terrible agony, that of death itself, took possession of me. In spite of myself, all the muscles of my body struggled uselessly to save me from suffocation. In spite of myself, the fingers of both my hands shook uncontrollably. "That's it! He's going to talk," said a voice. The water stopped running and they took away the rag. I was able to breathe. In the gloom, I saw the lieutenants and the captain, who, with a cigarette between his lips, was hitting my stomach with his fist to make me throw out the water I had swallowed.

Alleg stated that he had not broken under his ordeal of being waterboarded. Alleg has stated that the incidence of "accidental" death of prisoners being subjected to waterboarding in Algeria was "very frequent."

Vietnam War

Waterboarding was designated as illegal by U.S. generals in the Vietnam War. On January 21, 1968, The Washington Post published a controversial photograph of an American soldier supervising the waterboarding of a North Vietnamese POW near Da Nang. The article described the practice as "fairly common." The photograph led to the soldier being court-martialled by a U.S. military court within one month of its publication, and he was thrown out of the army. Another waterboarding photograph of the same scene is also exhibited in the War Remnants Museum at Ho Chi Minh City.

Khmer Rouge

The Khmer Rouge at the Tuol Sleng prison in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, used waterboarding as a method of torture between 1975 and 1979. The practice was documented in a painting by former inmate Vann Nath, which is on display in the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum.

U.S. Military survival training

All special operations units in all branches of the U.S. military employ the use of waterboarding as part of survival school (SERE) training, to psychologically prepare soldiers for the eventuality of being captured by the enemy forces.

Contemporary use and the United States

Many reports say that intelligence officers of the United States used waterboarding to interrogate prisoners captured in its War on Terrorism.

The June 21, 2004 issue of Newsweek stated that the Bybee memo, a 2002 legal memorandum drafted by former OLC lawyer John Yoo that described what sort of interrogation tactics against suspected terrorists or terrorist affiliates the Bush administration would consider legal, was "prompted by CIA questions about what to do with a top Qaeda captive, Abu Zubaydah, who had turned uncooperative...and was drafted after White House meetings convened by George W. Bush's chief counsel, Alberto Gonzales, along with Defense Department general counsel William Haynes and David Addington, Vice President Dick Cheney's counsel, who discussed specific interrogation techniques, says a source familiar with the discussions." Among the methods they found acceptable was waterboarding.

In November 2005, ABC News reported that former CIA agents claimed that the CIA engaged in a modern form of waterboarding, along with five other "Enhanced Interrogation Techniques", against suspected members of al Qaeda.

On July 20, 2007, U.S. President George W. Bush signed an executive order banning torture during interrogation of terror suspects. While the guidelines for interrogation do not specifically ban waterboarding, the executive order refers to torture as defined by 18 USC 2340, which includes "the threat of imminent death," as well as the U.S. Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Reaction to the order was mixed, with the CIA satisfied that it "clearly defined" the agency's authorities, but Human Rights Watch saying that answers about what specific techniques had been banned lay in the classified companion document and that "the people in charge of interpreting document don't have a particularly good track record of reasonable legal analysis."

On September 14, 2007, ABC News reported that sometime in 2006 CIA Director Michael Hayden asked for and received permission from the Bush administration to ban the use of waterboarding in CIA interrogations. The source of information is current and former CIA officials. ABC reported that waterboarding had been authorized by a 2002 Presidential finding. On November 5, 2007, The Wall Street Journal reported that its "sources confirm... that the CIA has only used this interrogation method against three terrorist detainees and not since 2003." John Kiriakou, a former CIA officer, is the first official within the U.S. government to openly admit to the use of waterboarding as an interrogation technique, as of December 10, 2007.

On February 6, 2008, the CIA director General Michael Hayden admitted that they had used waterboarding on three prisoners during 2002 and 2003, namely Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Abu Zubayda and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri.

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed

Several accounts reported that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was waterboarded while being interrogated by the CIA. According to the Bush administration, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed divulged information of tremendous value during his detention. He is said to have helped point the way to the capture of Hambali, the Indonesian terrorist responsible for the 2002 bombings of night clubs in Bali. According to the Bush administration, he also provided information on an Al Qaeda leader in England.

During a radio interview on October 24, 2006, with Scott Hennen of radio station WDAY, Vice President Dick Cheney seemed to agree with the use of waterboarding. The following are the questions and answers at issue, excerpted from the transcript of the interview:

Hennen: "…And I've had people call and say, please, let the Vice President know that if it takes dunking a terrorist in water, we're all for it, if it saves American lives. Again, this debate seems a little silly given the threat we face, would you agree?"

Cheney: "I do agree. And I think the terrorist threat, for example, with respect to our ability to interrogate high value detainees like Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, that's been a very important tool that we've had to be able to secure the nation. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed provided us with enormously valuable information about how many there are, about how they plan, what their training processes are and so forth, we've learned a lot. We need to be able to continue that."
…
Hennen: "Would you agree a dunk in water is a no-brainer if it can save lives?"

Cheney: "Well, it's a no-brainer for me, but for a while there I was criticized as being the vice president for torture. We don't torture. That's not what we're involved in."

The administration later denied that Cheney had confirmed the use of waterboarding, saying that U.S. officials do not talk publicly about interrogation techniques because they are classified. White House Press Secretary Tony Snow said that Cheney was not referring to waterboarding, but only to a "dunk in the water", prompting one reporter to ask, "So dunk in the water means, what, we have a pool now at Guantanamo and they go swimming?" Tony Snow replied, "You doing stand-up?" On September 13, 2007 ABC News reported that a former intelligence officer stated that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed had been waterboarded in the presence of a female CIA supervisor.

Captured along with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was a letter from bin Laden which led officials to think that he knew where the Al Qaeda founder was hiding.

According to sources familiar with a private interview of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, he claimed to have been waterboarded five times. "A CIA official told ABC News that he had been water-boarded, and had won the admiration of his interrogators because it took him two to two-and-half minutes to start confessing – well beyond the average of 14 seconds observed in others." This is disputed by two former CIA officers who are reportedly friends with one of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's interrogators. The officers called this 'bravado' and claimed that he was waterboarded only once. According to one of the officers, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed needed only to be shown the drowning equipment again before he "broke." "Waterboarding works," the former officer said. "Drowning is a baseline fear. So is falling. People dream about it. It’s human nature. Suffocation is a very scary thing. When you’re waterboarded, you’re inverted, so it exacerbates the fear. It’s not painful, but it scares the shit out of you." (The former officer was waterboarded himself in a training course.) Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, he claimed, "didn’t resist. He sang right away. He cracked real quick." He said, "A lot of them want to talk. Their egos are unimaginable. (He) was just a little doughboy. He couldn't stand toe to toe and fight it out." After being subjected to waterboarding, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed claimed involvement in thirty-one terrorist plots.

Abu Zubaida

There have also been reports that Abu Zubaida was waterboarded while detained by the U.S. government.

In 2002, U.S. intelligence located Abu Zubayda by tracing his phone calls. He was captured March 28, 2002, in a safehouse located in a two story apartment in Faisalabad, Pakistan. While in U.S. custody, he was waterboarded, and consequently gave a great deal of information about the 9/11 attack plot, although the veracity of some of his statements has been called into question. Such information was used by the Canadian government in seeking to uphold the 'security certificate' of Mohamed Harkat. Participating in his interrogation were two American psychologists, James Elmer Mitchell and R. Scott Shumate.

In December 2007, the Washington Post reported that there were some discrepancies regarding reports about the amount of times Zubaida was waterboarded. According to a previous account by Former CIA officer John Kiriakou, Abu Zubaida broke after just 35 seconds of waterboarding, which involved stretching cellophane over his mouth and nose and pouring water on his face to create the sensation of drowning. From the Washington Post article:

"But other former and current officials disagreed that Abu Zubaida's cooperation came quickly under harsh interrogation or that it was the result of a single waterboarding session. Instead, these officials said, harsh tactics used on him at a secret detention facility in Thailand went on for weeks or, depending on the account, even months. The videotaping of Abu Zubaida in 2002 went on day and night throughout his interrogation, including waterboarding, and while he was sleeping in his cell, intelligence officials said...The CIA has said it ceased waterboarding in 2003."

Classification as torture

Template:Globalize/USA Today, waterboarding is considered to be torture by a wide range of authorities, including legal experts, politicians, war veterans, intelligence officials, military judges, and human rights organizations. However, arguments have been put forward that it might not be torture in all cases, or that they are uncertain. The U.S. State Department has recognized that other techniques that involve submersion of the head of the subject during interrogation would qualify as torture.

Controversy in the United States

Whether waterboarding should be classified as a method of torture was not widely in debate in the United States before it was alleged that members of the CIA have used the technique against certain suspected detained terrorists. Since then, some commentators have argued that waterboarding as an interrogation method should not qualify as torture in certain circumstances while other individuals have refused to state whether they would consider waterboarding to be torture without knowing the specific facts of a situation.

Andrew C. McCarthy, a licensed attorney and former U.S. federal prosecutor now serving as director of the Center for Law and Counterterrorism, states in an October 2007 op-ed in National Review that he believes that, when used "some number of instances that were not prolonged or extensive", waterboarding should not qualify as torture under the law. McCarthy continues: "Personally, I don't believe it qualifies. It is not in the nature of the barbarous sadism universally condemned as torture, an ignominy the law, as we've seen, has been patently careful not to trivialize or conflate with lesser evils," though in the same article he admits that "waterboarding is close enough to torture that reasonable minds can differ on whether it is torture".

Some American politicians have unequivocally stated that it is their belief that waterboarding is not torture. In response to the question "Do you believe waterboarding is torture?" on the Glenn Beck show, Representative Ted Poe stated "I don't believe it's torture at all, I certainly don't." Beck agreed with him. The American conservative media commentator Jim Meyers has stated, in a December 2007 Newsmax.com opinion piece, that he does not believe that waterboarding should be classified as a form of torture, because he does not believe it inflicts pain.

In a telephone poll of 1,024 American adults by the CNN/Opinion Research Corp. in early November 2007 about whether they considered waterboarding torture. 69 percent of respondents said that waterboarding was torture while 29 percent of respondants said it was not. In addition, 58 percent of those polled stated that they did not think that the U.S. government should be allowed to use this procedure against suspected terrorists as a method of interrogation.

As a political issue in confirmation hearings

The issue of whether waterboarding is torture became an issue in confirming certain appointments to the Department of Justice. Judge Michael Mukasey was intended to be a consensus candidate to replace Alberto Gonzalez as Attorney General, but his confirmation briefly looked in doubt when he wouldn't state whether waterboarding is torture. Mukasey stated that waterboarding seemed "over the line or, on a personal basis, repugnant to me, and would probably seem the same to many Americans" but that "hypotheticals are different from real life, and in any legal opinion the actual facts and circumstances are critical." As reported by the Washington Post: Mukasey also stated that he was "reluctant to offer opinions on interrogation techniques because he does not want to place U.S. officials 'in personal legal jeopardy' and is concerned that such remarks might 'provide our enemies with a window into the limits or contours of any interrogation program.'"

The issue came up again in the confirmation hearings of Federal District Judge Mark Filip for the position of deputy attorney general. Filip stated that he considered waterboarding to be "repugnant," and stated that with a grandfather in a POW camp in Germany, he considered the issue to be somewhat personal. That being said, he refused to state whether waterboarding was torture and stated instead that "the attorney general of the United States is presently reviewing that legal question" and that "I don't think I can or anyone who could be potentially considered for his deputy could get out in front of him on that question while it's under review."

As a political issue in 2008 presidential election

The issue of whether waterboarding should be classified as torture also became a political issue for candidates running for president in the 2008 election, which candidates being asked whether they would consider waterboarding to be a form of torture. Several political candidates (e.g., John McCain, Mike Huckabee, Joseph Biden , Chris Dodd, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton) have stated unequivocally that waterboarding is torture, while others have refused to state this position or have stated that they do not believe waterboarding is torture.

For example, in response to a direct question of whether he considered waterboarding to be torture, Rudolph Giuliani stated "I’m not sure is . It depends on how it’s done. It depends on the circumstances. It depends on who does it. I think the way it’s been defined in the media, it shouldn’t be done. The way in which they have described it, particularly in the liberal media. So I would say, if that’s the description of it, then I can agree, that it shouldn’t be done. But I have to see what the real description of it is. Because I’ve learned something being in public life as long as I have. And I hate to shock anybody with this, but the newspapers don’t always describe it accurately."

Additionally, Tom Tancredo stated in a Republican debate the following: "he question that I was originally asked that elicited the response that you’ve mentioned was, what do we do in the -- in the response to a nuclear -- or the fact that a nuclear device or some bombs have gone off in the United States; we know that there are -- we have captured people who have information that could lead us to the next one that’s going to go off; and it’s the big one? That was the question that I responded to. And I told you yes, I would do -- certainly waterboard -- I don’t believe that that is, quote, "torture." I would do what is necessary to protect this country. That is the ultimate responsibility of the president of the United States."

In the Republican YouTube debates, Andrew Jones, a college student from Seattle submitted the question: "Recently, Senator McCain has come out strongly against using waterboarding as an instrument of interrogation. My question for the rest of you is, considering that Mr. McCain is the only one with any firsthand knowledge on the subject, how can those of you sharing the stage with him disagree with his position?" In response to this question Mitt Romney stated "I oppose torture. I would not be in favor of torture in any way, shape or form." Prompted by the moderator as to whether waterboarding was torture, Romney said "as a presidential candidate, I don't think it's wise for us to describe specifically which measures we would and would not use" which prompted the following exchange between McCain and Romney: McCain: "Well, governor, I'm astonished that you haven't found out what waterboarding is." Romney: "I know what waterboarding is, Senator." McCain: "Then I am astonished that you would think such a – such a torture would be inflicted on anyone in our — who we are held captive and anyone could believe that that's not torture. It's in violation of the Geneva Convention."

Legality

Template:Globalize/USA All nations that are signatory to the United Nations Convention Against Torture have agreed they are subject to the explicit prohibition on torture under any condition, and as such there exists no legal exception under this treaty. (The treaty states "No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture.") Additionally, signatories of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are bound to Article 5, which states, "No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment."

United States

The United States has a historical record of regarding waterboarding as a crime, and has prosecuted individuals for the use of the practice in the past. In 1947, the United States prosecuted a Japanese military officer, Yukio Asano, for carrying out a form of waterboarding on a U.S. civilian during World War II. Yukio Asano received a sentence of 15 years of hard labor. The charges of Violation of the Laws and Customs of War against Asano also included "beating using hands, fists, club; kicking; burning using cigarettes; strapping on a stretcher head downward."

In its 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, the U.S. Department of State formally recognized "submersion of the head in water" as torture in its examination of Tunisia's poor human rights record, and critics of waterboarding draw parallels between the two techniques, citing the similar usage of water on the subject.

Following the attacks of September 11, 2001, several memoranda were written analysing the legal position and possibilities in the treatment of prisoners. The memos, known today as the "torture memos," advocate enhanced interrogation techniques, while pointing out that refuting the Geneva Conventions would reduce the possibility of prosecution for war crimes. In addition, a new definition of torture was issued. Most actions that fall under the international definition do not fall within this new definition advocated by the U.S.

On September 6, 2006, the U.S. Department of Defense released a revised Army Field Manual entitled Human Intelligence Collector Operations that prohibits the use of waterboarding by U.S. military personnel. The department adopted the manual amid widespread criticism of U.S. handling of prisoners in the War on Terrorism, and prohibits other practices in addition to waterboarding. The revised manual applies only to U.S. military personnel, and as such does not apply to the practices of the CIA. Nevertheless Steven G. Bradbury, acting head of the US Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of Legal Counsel, on February 14, 2008 testified:

There has been no determination by the Justice Department that the use of waterboarding, under any circumstances, would be lawful under current law.

In addition, both under the War Crimes Act and international law, violators of the laws of war are criminally liable under the command responsibility, and they could still be prosecuted for war crimes. Commenting on the so-called "torture memoranda" Scott Horton pointed out

the possibility that the authors of these memoranda counseled the use of lethal and unlawful techniques, and therefore face criminal culpability themselves. That, after all, is the teaching of United States v. Altstötter, the Nuremberg case brought against German Justice Department lawyers whose memoranda crafted the basis for implementation of the infamous “Night and Fog Decree.”

Mukasey's refusal to investigate and prosecute anyone that relied on these legal opinions led Jordan Paust to write an article for JURIST stating:

it is legally and morally impossible for any member of the executive branch to be acting lawfully or within the scope of his or her authority while following OLC opinions that are manifestly inconsistent with or violative of the law. General Mukasey, just following orders is no defense!

Specific to the United Nations Convention Against Torture, the United States Supreme Court in Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain, 542 U.S. 692 (2004) said that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights "does not of its own force impose obligations as a matter of international law."

On Februari 22, 2008 Senator Sheldon Whitehouse made public that "the Justice Department has announced it has launched an investigation of the role of top DOJ officials and staff attorneys in authorizing and/or overseeing the use of waterboarding by U.S. intelligence agencies."

Bibliography

• Alleg, Henri (2006; original French version published in 1958). The Question. Preface by Jean-Paul Sartre. Translated by John Calder. Bison Books. ISBN 0803259603. ISBN 9780803259607.

See also

• At the Center of the Storm: My Years at the CIA
• Command responsibility
• Dunking
• Enhanced interrogation techniques
• Water torture
• Water cure

References

1. Eban, Katherine (July 17 2007). "Rorschach and Awe". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 2007-12-17. It was terrifying," military psychologist Bryce Lefever is quoted as saying, "...you're strapped to an inclined gurney and you're in four-point restraint, your head is almost immobilized, and they pour water between your nose and your mouth, so if you're likely to breathe, you're going to get a lot of water. You go into an oxygen panic. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
2. White, Josh (November 8 2007). "Waterboarding Is Torture, Says Ex-Navy Instructor". Washington Post. Retrieved 2007-12-17. As the event unfolded, I was fully conscious of what was happening: I was being tortured. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
3. ^ Ross, Brian; Esposito, Richard (November 8 2007). "CIA's Harsh Interrogation Techniques Described". ABC News. Retrieved 2007-12-17. Unavoidably, the gag reflex kicks in and a terrifying fear of drowning leads to almost instant pleas to bring the treatment to a halt. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
4. ^ Various (April 5, 2006). "Open Letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales". Human Rights News. Retrieved 2007-12-18. In a letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales more than 100 United States law professors stated unequivocally that waterboarding is torture, and the use of the practice is a criminal felony punishable under the U.S. federal criminal code.
5. ^ Mayer, Jane (2005-02-14). "Outsourcing Torture". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2007-12-18. Dr. Allen Keller, the director of the Bellevue/N.Y.U. Program for Survivors of Torture, told me that he had treated a number of people who had been subjected to such forms of near-asphyxiation, and he argued that it was indeed torture. Some victims were still traumatized years later, he said. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help) Cite error: The named reference "NY" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
6. Shane, Scott (2007-11-07). "A Firsthand Experience Before Decision on Torture". New York Times. Retrieved 2007-12-18. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
7. ^ Davis, Benjamin (2007-10-08). "Endgame on Torture: Time to Call the Bluff". University of Pittsburgh School of Law. Retrieved 2007-12-18. Waterboarding has been torture for at least 500 years. All of us know that torture is going on. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
8. ^ "French Journalist Henri Alleg Describes His Torture Being Waterboarded by French Forces During Algerian War". Democracy Now!. 2007-11-05. Retrieved 2007-12-18. I have described the waterboarding I was submitted to. And no one can say, having passed through it, that this was not torture, especially when he has endured other types of torture—burning, electricity and beating, and so on. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
9. ^ "Torture's Terrible Toll". Newsweek. 2005-11-21. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)According to Republican United States Senator and 2008 presidential candidate John McCain, who was tortured as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam, waterboarding is "torture, no different than holding a pistol to his head and firing a blank" and can damage the subject's psyche "in ways that may never heal."
10. Grey, Stephen (2006). Ghost Plane: The True Story of the CIA Torture Program. New York, New York: St. Martin's Press. pp. 225–226. A former senior official in the directorate of operations is quoted (in full) as saying: "'Of course it was torture. Try it and you'll see.'" Another "former higher-up in the directorate of operations" said "'Yes, it's torture'".
11. ^ Bell, Nicole (2007-11-03). "Retired JAGs Send Letter To Leahy: "Waterboarding is inhumane, it is torture, and it is illegal."". Crooks and Liars. Retrieved 2007-12-18. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameters: |(empty string)= and |coauthors= (help) "Waterboarding is inhumane, it is torture, and it is illegal." and "Waterboarding detainees amounts to illegal torture in all circumstances.". From Rear Admiral Donald J. Guter, United States Navy (Ret.) Judge Advocate General of the Navy, 2000-02; Rear Admiral John D. Hutson, United States Navy (Ret.) Judge Advocate General of the Navy, 1997-2000; Major General John L. Fugh, United States Army (Ret.) Judge Advocate General of the Army, 1991-93; Brigadier General David M. Brahms, United States Marine Corps (Ret.) Staff Judge Advocate to the Commandant, 1985-88.
12. ^ "CIA Whitewashing Torture". Human Rights Watch. 2005-11-21. Retrieved 2007-12-18. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help) "There is no doubt that waterboarding is torture, despite the administration’s reluctance to say so,” Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch.
13. ^ "Amnesty International Response to Cheney's "No-Brainer" Comment". Amnesty International. 2006-10-26. Retrieved 2007-12-18. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
14. "History of an Interrogation Technique: Water Boarding". World News with Charles Gibson. ABC News. 2005-11-29. Retrieved 2007-12-18. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
15. "Secret U.S. Endorsement of Severe Interrogations". New York Times. 2007-10-04. Retrieved 2007-12-18. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
16. Tran, Mark. "CIA admit 'waterboarding' al-Qaida suspects". www.guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 2008-02-21. {{cite web}}: Text "World news" ignored (help); Text "guardian.co.uk" ignored (help)
17. Michael Hirsh, John Barry and Daniel Klaidman "A Tortured Debate," Newsweek, June 21, 2004. "'water-boarding,' or dripping water into a wet cloth over a suspect's face, which can feel like drowning"
18. Brian Ross and Richard Esposito, "CIA's Harsh Interrogation Techniques Described," ABC News, Nov. 8, 2005. The prisoner is bound to an inclined board, feet raised and head slightly below the feet. Cellophane is wrapped over the prisoner's face and water is poured over him. Unavoidably, the gag reflex kicks in and a terrifying fear of drowning leads to almost instant pleas to bring the treatment to a halt.
19. Harrigan, Steve (2006-11-06). "Waterboarding: Historically Controversial". Fox News. Retrieved 2007-12-18. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
20. Larsen, Kaj (2007-10-31). "Getting Waterboarded". Current TV. Retrieved 2007-12-18. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
21. "Waterboarding: An Issue Before Mukasey's Bid". All Things Considered. National Public Radio. 2007-11-03. Retrieved 2007-12-19. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
22. Confessions of 9/11 architect backfires on US The Independent, March 18, 2007
23. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Hearing on U.S. Interrogation Policy and Executive Order 13440, September 25, 2007, Statement by Allen S. Keller, M.D.
24. Scott, George Ryley, The History of Torture Throughout the Ages, p.172, Columbia University Press (2003) ISBN 0-7103-0837-X.
25. Schweiker, William (2007-11-29). "Baptism by Torture". The Marty Martin Center. University of Chicago. Retrieved 2007-12-19. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help) "Why did practices similar to waterboarding develop as a way to torture heretics—whether the heretics were Anabaptists or, in the Inquisition, Protestants of any stripe as well as Jews and witches and others? Roman Catholics and Protestants alike persecuted the Anabaptists or "re-baptizers" since these people denied infant baptism in favor of adult baptism. The use of torture and physical abuse was meant to stem the movement and also to bring salvation to heretics. It had been held—at least since St. Augustine—that punishment, even lethal in form, could be an act of mercy meant to keep a sinner from continuing in sin, either by repentance of heresy or by death. King Ferdinand declared that drowning—called the third baptism—was a suitable response to Anabaptists. Water as a form of torture was an inversion of the waters of baptism under the (grotesque) belief that it could deliver the heretic from his or her sins. In the Inquisition, the practice was not drowning as such, but the threat of drowning, and the symbolic threat of baptism. The tortura del agua or toca entailed forcing the victim to ingest water poured into a cloth stuffed into the mouth in order to give the impression of drowning. Because of the wide symbolic meaning of "water" in the Christian and Jewish traditions (creation, the great flood, the parting of the Red Sea in the Exodus and drowning of the Egyptians (!), Christ's walking on the water, and, centrally for Christians, baptism as a symbolic death that gives life), the practice takes on profound religious significance. Torture has many forms, but torture by water as it arose in the Roman Catholic and Protestant reformations seemingly drew some of its power and inspiration from theological convictions about repentance and salvation. It was, we must now surely say, a horrific inversion of the best spirit of Christian faith and symbolism."
26. From A True Relation of the Unjust, Cruel and Barbarous Proceedings against the English at Amboyna (1624), cited in Milton, Giles, Nathaniel's Nutmeg: How One Man's Courage Changed the Course of History (Spectre, 1999, 328); spellings have been modernized. Also cited with variations in Keay, John, The Honourable Company: A History of the English East India Company (HarperCollins, 1993, 49); and Kerrigan, Michael, The Instruments of Torture (Spellmount, 2001, 85). See also excerpts from A memento for Holland (1652) at Blogging the Renaissance
27. Ibid, cited in Milton 328-9, Keay 49 and Kerrigan 85. Spellings have been modernized.
28. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2006/oct/27/usa.guantanamo
29. Daniel A. Rezneck (October 31, 2007). "Roosevelt was right: Waterboarding wrong". The Politico. Retrieved 2008-02-19.
30. Sidhu, H. The Bamboo Fortress: True Singapore War Stories (Native, 1991, 113), a paraphrase of testimony presented during the Double Tenth war crimes trial. Some of this testimony has been transcribed and posted at Yawning Bread.
31. "Photo Gallery / torture1". Syonan-to Kellved. Retrieved 2007-12-19. A website with historical photographs and documents on the Japanese WWII occupation of Singapore.
32. Leonard, Doyle (2007-11-01). "Waterboarding is torture - I did it myself, says US advisor". The Independent, UK. Retrieved 2007-12-19. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
33. Ordeal by Torture, TIME, June 9, 1958
34. ^ Charles Gibson (2005-11-12). "History of an Interrogation Technique: Water Boarding". ABC News.
35. ^ Pincus, Walter, "Waterboarding Historically Controversial; In 1947, the U.S. Called It a War Crime; in 1968, It Reportedly Caused an Investigation" Washington Post, October 5, 2006, pg. A17. viewed October 5, 2006
36. Weiner, Eric (2007-11-03). "Waterboarding: A Tortured History". National Public Radio. Retrieved 2007-12-19. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
37. Fletcher, Harrel. "Harrel Fletcher - The American War". Retrieved 2007-12-19.
38. Dana Milbank (November 2, 2007). "Logic Tortured". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2008-02-19.
39. Katherine Eban (July 17, 2007). "Rorschach and Awe". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 2008-02-19.
40. Hirsh, Michael (2004-06-21). "A TORTURED DEBATE: AMID FEUDING AND TURF BATTLES, LAWYERS IN THE WHITE HOUSE DISCUSSED SPECIFIC TERROR-INTERROGATION TECHNIQUES LIKE 'WATER-BOARDING' AND 'MOCK BURIALS'". Newsweek. Retrieved 2007-12-20. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
41. "Bush bans terror suspect torture". BBC News. 2007-07-20. Retrieved 2007-12-19. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
42. Bush, George W. (2007-07-20). "Executive Order: Interpretation of the Geneva Conventions Common Article 3 as Applied to a Program of Detention and Interrogation Operated by the Central Intelligence Agency". Retrieved 2007-12-19.
43. Miller, Greg (2007-07-21). "Bush Signs New CIA Interrogation Rules". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2007-12-19. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
44. "CIA Bans Waterboarding in Terror Interrogations". The Blotter. ABC News. 2007-09-14. Retrieved 2007-12-19. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
45. Schumer's Epiphany, The Wall Street Journal, retrieved 2007-11-05 {{citation}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
46. Joby Warrick and Dan Eggen (2007). "Waterboarding Recounted" (HTML). The Washington Post. Retrieved 2007-11-12.
47. Mark Davis (2007). "His second guess is wrong: Former CIA agent confirms that waterboarding worked but then questions its use" (HTML). The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved 2007-12-20.
48. "CIA finally admits to waterboarding" (HTML). The Australian. 2008-02-07. Retrieved 2008-02-18. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
49. ^ Mayer, Jane (2007-08-13). "The Black Sites". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2007-12-19. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
50. "Feeling chilled? Let your blood boil". Unbossed. 2007-10-24. Retrieved 2007-12-19. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
51. "Interview of the Vice President by Scott Hennen, WDAY at Radio Day at the White House". The White House. 2006-10-24. Retrieved 2007-07-20.
52. "Press Briefing by Tony Snow". The White House. 2006-10-27. Retrieved 2007-12-19.
53. Esposito, Richard (2007-09-13). "How the CIA Broke the 9/11 Attacks Mastermind". The Blotter. ABC News. Retrieved 2007-12-20. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
54. "Experts: Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's arrest slowed al-Qaeda". USA Today. Associated Press. 2007-03-16. Retrieved 2007-12-20. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
55. "Khalid Shaikh Mohammed: life of terror". CNN. 2003-09-23. Retrieved 2007-12-20. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
56. Gumbel, Andrew (2007-03-18). "Confession of 9/11 architect backfires on US". The Independent, UK. Retrieved 2007-12-20. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
57. "Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's '31 plots'". BBC News. 2007-03-15. Retrieved 2007-12-20. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
58. "Waterboarding approved at the top, ex-agent says". Globe and Mail. 2007-12-12. Retrieved 2007-12-20. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
59. Hosenball, Mark (2002-04-27). "How Good Is Abu Zubaydah's Information?". Newsweek. Retrieved 2007-12-20. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
60. "Rorschach and Awe: As Opposition Grows Over the APA's Policy Allowing Psychologists to Take Part in Military Interrogations, Vanity Fair Exposes How Two Psychologists Shaped the CIA's Torture Methods". Democracy Now!. 2007-07-30. Retrieved 2007-12-20. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
61. "The Destroyed CIA Torture Tapes & Psychologists". Democracy Now!. 2007-12-10. Retrieved 2007-12-20. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
62. Dan Eggen and Walter Pincus, FBI, CIA Debate Significance of Terror Suspect Washington Post, Tuesday, December 18, 2007, A01
63. Grey, Stephen (2006). Ghost Plane: The True Story of the CIA Torture Program. New York, New York: St. Martin's Press. pp. 225–226. A former senior official in the directorate of operations is quoted (in full) as saying: "'Of course it was torture. Try it and you'll see.'" Another "former higher-up in the directorate of operations" said "'Yes, it's torture'".
64. ^ McCarthey, Andrew C. (2007-12-10). "Waterboarding and Torture". National Review. Retrieved 2007-12-20. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help) Cite error: The named reference "NRO WB_092607" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
65. Dan Eggen Mukasey Losing Democrats' Backing: Nominee Unsure If Waterboarding Breaks Torture Law Washington Post, Wednesday, October 31, 2007; A01.
66. In His Words: Giuliani on Torture
67. ^ Transcript of Glenn Beck program
68. *U.S. Department of State. In its 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, the U.S. Department of State formally recognizes "submersion of the head in water" as torture in its examination of Tunisia's poor human rights record, U.S. Department of State (2005). "Tunisia". Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |month= (help)
69. "New Details in CIA Waterboarding", Associated Press, December 11, 2007
70. "Waterboarding demonstrated in DC". Reuters. November 6, 2007.
71. Meyers, Jim (2007-12-10). "Waterboarding Is Not Torture". Newsmax. Retrieved 2007-12-20. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
72. Poll results: Waterboarding is torture CNN, November 6, 2007
73. Dan Eggen Mukasey Losing Democrats' Backing: Nominee Unsure If Waterboarding Breaks Torture Law Washington Post, Wednesday, October 31, 2007; A01.
74. David Stout U.S. Justice Department nominee refuses to answer question about waterboarding International Herald Tribue, December 19, 2007
75. Salt Lake Tribune article "At an Iowa press conference, Huckabee said, 'Waterboarding is torture, and torture violates the moral code of Americans and jeopardizes the country's security. We should aggressively interrogate terrorism suspects and go after those who seek to do the country harm, but when we go to the point of violating our own moral code, then instead of advancing our country, its safety and our security, we in fact jeopardize it.'
76. “Waterboarding is by any standard, torture. I called on my colleagues today to support legislation I introduced this summer banning waterboarding and other forms of torture. When we use torture or other cruel and inhumane treatment of detainees, we diminish our ability to argue that the same techniques should not be used against our own troops. We need to send a clear message that torture, inhumane, and degrading treatment of detainees is unacceptable and is not permitted by U.S. law. Period.” Source: Statement. October 30th, 2007. http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/index.cfm/page/article/id/8684
77. “Absolutely, according to both US law and international conventions.” Source: “The Questions I Wish I Were Asked.” The Huffington Post. November 1, 2007. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-dodd
78. “I have been consistent in my strong beliefs that no administration should allow the use of torture, including so-called ‘enhanced-interrogation techniques’ like waterboarding, head-slapping, and extreme temperatures." Source: October 29th, campaign statement. http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2007/11/03/us/politics/03torture.web.html
79. "Lee Feinstein, national security director for Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign, said the New York Democrat's position is unchanged: "She believes that waterboarding is torture, it's wrong and it's unlawful."' " http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-cia12dec11,1,4877360.story?ctrack=1&cset=true
80. In His Words: Giuliani on Torture
81. Transcript of Fox Republican Rebates
82. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16726577 Link to NPR article on debate]
83. Case Defendant: Asano, Yukio from Case Synopses from Judge Advocate's Reviews Yokohama Class B and C War Crimed Trials. Accessed on March 7, 2006
84. U.S. Department of State (2005). "Tunisia". Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |month= (help)
85. The Interrogation Documents: Debating U.S. Policy and Methods the memos written as part of the war on terrorism
86. The Anti-Torture Memos: Balkinization Posts on Torture, Interrogation, Detention, War Powers, Executive Authority, DOJ and OLC Marty Lederman, Balkinization, July 08, 2007
87. ^ Legal justification
    • The Leo-conservatives by GERHARD SPÖRL, Der Spiegel, August 04, 2003
    • The Return of Carl SchmittScott Horton, Balkinization, November 07, 2005
    • Deconstructing John Yoo by Scott Horton, Harpers, January 23, 2008
88. War crimes warning
    • Memos Reveal War Crimes Warnings By Michael Isikoff, Newsweek, May 19 2004
    • Torture and Accountability by Elizabeth Holtzman, The Nation, June 28 2005
    • US Lawyers Warn Bush on War Crimes By Grant McCool, Lawyers Against the War, Global Policy Forum, January 28 2003
89. US definition of torture
    • Judge's anger at US torture by Richard Norton-Taylor and Suzanne Goldenberg, The Guardian, February 17 2006
    • Torture as National Policy By Dahr Jamail, Tomdispatch.com, March 9 2006
90. "U.S. Army Bans Torture Of Prisoners". Associated Press. CBS News. 2007-09-06. Retrieved 2007-12-20. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
91. Waterboarding not authorized under current law
    • Lowering the Bar: Well, At Least We're Not as Barbaric as the Spanish Inquisition by Marty Lederman, Balkinization, February 14, 2008
    • Not So Fast There, Ana by Marty Lederman, Balkinization, February 14, 2008
    • Waterboarding not authorized under current law: DOJ to House panel, JURIST, February 14, 2008
92. Injustice at Guantanamo: Torture Evidence and the Military Commissions Act by Marjorie Cohn, JURIST
93. Samuel, Alexandria (2007-09-06). "Rights group calls for special prosecutor to investigate abuse roles of Rumsfeld, Tenet". The Jurist. University of Pittsburgh. Retrieved 2007-12-20. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
94. Just Following Orders? DOJ Opinions and War Crimes Liability Jordan Paust, JURIST, February 18, 2008
95. Durbin and Whitehouse: Justice Department is Investigating Torture Authorization - Senate Judiciary Democrats Called for Inquiry into DOJ's Role in Overseeing CIA's Use of Waterboarding Press Release of Senator Whitehouse, February 22, 2008

^ Schweiker, William. "Baptism by Torture", The Martin Marty Center, University of Chicago, 2007-11-29. Retrieved on 2007-12-19. JButterfly (talk) 03:02, 23 February 2008 (UTC)

• Physical torture techniques
• George W. Bush administration controversies
• Laws of war
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• Human rights abuses
• Torture
• Torture devices