The Absolute Prohibition of Torture and Ill-Treatment

The President, the Secretary of State, and other U.S. government officials have repeatedly assured the world that the United States does not engage in torture. Whenever they try to issue such statements, the critical listener must ask such questions as What do they mean by torture? Have they so narrowly defined torture as to ask the listener to overlook the mounting evidence of extremely brutal treatment which U.S. personnel have perpetrated against detainees in Afghanistan, Guantanamo, Iraq, and other secret detention facilities? Many detainees held by the U.S. have been subjected to illtreatment that would, under international definitions and jurisprudence, qualify as torture