I think we all need a little review to get us all back to the basics on the debate on torture. I hear a lot of people on the cable news networks defending torture saying, "if you knew that a bomb was going to go off in a major U.S. city, wouldn't you do everything you could to stop it?"
I find this probably the most compelling argument that the other side has come up with, but the fact is, its not a valid one in court.
Follow me on the flip.
I think we've gotten away from a reading of the laws on this one. Its time we sat down and reviewed what the laws regarding torture are in this country. There are three that I know of:
18 U.S.C § 2340 and § 2340A
§ 2340. Definitions
As used in this chapter—
- (1)“torture” means an act committed by a person acting under the color of law specifically intended to inflict severe physical or mental pain or suffering (other than pain or suffering incidental to lawful sanctions) upon another person within his custody or physical control;
- (2)“severe mental pain or suffering” means the prolonged mental harm caused by or resulting from—
- (a)the intentional infliction or threatened infliction of severe physical pain or suffering;
- (b)the administration or application, or threatened administration or application, of mind-altering substances or other procedures calculated to disrupt profoundly the senses or the personality;
- (c)the threat of imminent death; or
- (d)the threat that another person will imminently be subjected to death, severe physical pain or suffering, or the administration or application of mind-altering substances or other procedures calculated to disrupt profoundly the senses or personality; and
- (3)“United States” means the several States of the United States, the District of Columbia, and the commonwealths, territories, and possessions of the United States.
§ 2340A. Torture
- (a)Offense.— Whoever outside the United States commits or attempts to commit torture shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both, and if death results to any person from conduct prohibited by this subsection, shall be punished by death or imprisoned for any term of years or for life.
- (b)Jurisdiction.— There is jurisdiction over the activity prohibited in subsection (a) if—
- the alleged offender is a national of the United States; or
- the alleged offender is present in the United States, irrespective of the nationality of the victim or alleged offender.
- (c)Conspiracy.— A person who conspires to commit an offense under this section shall be subject to the same penalties (other than the penalty of death) as the penalties prescribed for the offense, the commission of which was the object of the conspiracy.
If anyone can find a way to wiggle waterboarding through that text(e.g. John Yoo, Jay Bybee, etc, etc...) They ought to be prosecuted under subsection c. The second relevant law is the Third Geneva Convention, Signed by Herbert Hoover in 1929, and ratified by the Senate in 1932, which makes it the supreme law of the land(read Article VI of the Constitution)
In the case of armed conflict not of an international character occurring in the territory of one of the High Contracting Parties, each party to the conflict shall be bound to apply, as a minimum, the following provisions:
- 1. Persons taking no active part in the hostilities, including members of armed forces who have laid down their arms and those placed hors de combat by sickness, wounds, detention, or any other cause, shall in all circumstances be treated humanely, without any adverse distinction founded on race, colour, religion or faith, sex, birth or wealth, or any other similar criteria.
To this end the following acts are and shall remain prohibited at any time and in any place whatsoever with respect to the above-mentioned persons:
- (a)Violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture;
- (b)Taking of hostages;
- (c)Outrages upon personal dignity, in particular, humiliating and degrading treatment;
- (d)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.
Again, same deal. Torture, and humiliating treatment is illegal.
The last relevant law regarding this, and the one most pertinent to the debate we're having now is the Convention Against Torture.Signed by noted liberal Ronald Reagan in 1988, and ratified by the Senate in 1994.
Article 1
- 1. For the purposes of this Convention, the term "torture" means any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions.
- 2. This article is without prejudice to any international instrument or national legislation which does or may contain provisions of wider application.
Article 2
- 1. Each State Party shall take effective legislative, administrative, judicial or other measures to prevent acts of torture in any territory under its jurisdiction.
- 2. 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.
- 3. An order from a superior officer or a public authority may not be invoked as a justification of torture.
Emphasis mine
Lets read Section 2 one more time there...
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 defense of, "A city was about to be blown up..." is not valid according the Convention Against Torture, which even China is a signatory to!
Its time we got back to our guns on this issue: the law. just recite that over and over again. "No exceptional circumstances whatsoever...No exceptional circumstances whatsoever...NO EXCEPTIONAL CIRCUMSTANCES WHATSOEVER..."