Reply #4: From Amnesty International: [View All]

[Fleshdancer]

http://web.amnesty.org/pages/stoptorture-issues-eng

Stop torture and ill-treatment in the 'war on terror'

"No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment." Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Human rights are under threat. The ban on torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment – the most universally accepted of human rights – is being undermined. In the "war on terror", governments are not only using torture and ill-treatment, they are making the case that this is justifiable and necessary.

Those who claim to set their human rights standards high are at the forefront of this assault. The USA is one such government. Their conduct influences governments everywhere, giving comfort to those who commit torture routinely and undermining the very values the “war on terror” is supposed to defend.

They speak of “coercive interrogation” but when the door to torture is opened, the pressure is always upward. If one slap doesn’t work, then a beating will follow. If a beating doesn’t work, what comes next? We see the photographs, hear the testimonies. It is cruel, inhuman; it degrades us all.