The UK Foreign office thinks that waterboarding - drowning someone till they talk - does not necessarily constitute torture. This despite a ban in international law on mock executions.
One of the worries about the US's acceptance of torture was that it would set a bad example to other states. I think we've just seen that fear realised. If the UK is willing to follow the US lead, then imagine what China, Cuba, and Uzbekistan will be thinking...
4 comments:
Er, I think most people would say those countries are already very familiar with the use of torture, and have been for some DECADES now. Although to give China credit, it's more likely measured in centuries than decades.
Posted by M'Lud : 3/16/2006 12:48:00 PM
Yeah, but now they have an excusse. After all, if the US and UK think its OK...
This is going to make it a lot more difficult for human rights campaigners to get progress out of those countries where it is desperately needed. And the blame for that can be laid squarely at the feet of Bush and Blair.
Posted by Idiot/Savant : 3/16/2006 12:51:00 PM
An additional problem being that our own government now refuses to speak against torture by anyone so as to avoid speaking of torture by the US.
They don't speak much about freedom from arbitrary arrest (of which we have one of our own), military occupations, and WMD treaties any more either, for the same basic reason.
Posted by tussock : 3/16/2006 07:05:00 PM
How... bizarre.
The really strange thing is that the question always seems to be "doesn't that violate treaty obligations" or "doesn't that break the law".
How about "isn't that the short of shitty thing that decent people should oppose"?
I sometimes wonder just what sort of world I'm raising my kids into.
Posted by Icehawk : 3/16/2006 08:48:00 PM
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