Evidence From Waterboarding Could Be Used in Military Trials

[babylonsister]

Evidence From Waterboarding Could Be Used in Military Trials
By Josh White
The Washington Post

Wednesday 12 December 2007

The top legal adviser for the military trials of Guantanamo Bay detainees told Congress yesterday that he cannot rule out the use of evidence derived from the CIA's aggressive interrogation techniques, including waterboarding, a tactic that simulates drowning.

Air Force Brig. Gen. Thomas W. Hartmann, who oversees the prosecutors who will try the detainees at military commissions, said that while "torture" is illegal, he cannot say whether waterboarding violates the law. Nor would he say that such evidence would be barred at trial.

"If the evidence is reliable and probative, and the judge concludes that it is in the best interest of justice to introduce that evidence, ma'am, those are the rules we will follow," Hartmann said in response to questions from Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), at a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing.

Hartmann also declined to say that waterboarding would be illegal if used by another country on U.S. forces, drawing expressions of concern from Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.). Graham has advocated that techniques used by all U.S. agencies conform to the Geneva Conventions, which prohibit cruel, inhuman or degrading tactics.

Hartmann's testimony came amid broad discussion of the use of waterboarding on at least three important terrorist suspects who were taken into secret CIA custody after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The CIA announced last week that it destroyed videotapes in 2005 that depicted the use of harsh interrogation tactics on two detainees, arguing that the move was made to protect personnel visible on the recordings.

more...

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/121207N.shtml

[TechBear_Seattle]

1. So why not use thumbscrews, strappado and the iron maiden?

Such techniques worked quite well for the Inquisition and helped to provide absolute legal proof that women were consorting with the Devil, stealing unbaptized babies to sacrfice, withering cows and flying through the night on broomsticks.

(Do I really need to use the :sarcasm: tag on this one?)