Despite what ninfan claims torture is completely illegal under US law. Which of course is precisely why torture has taken place in Guantanamo Bay Cuba away from the jurisdiction of US courts – they don’t take prisoners to Cuba for the sunshine and the beaches.
Or else they kidnap them and torture them in another country which is friendly with the US, extraordinary rendition is a fancy term which sounds harmless and means exactly that.
I can’t say I’ve noticed anyone mentioning the International Court of Justice btw, we really need to move from this mindset which thinks that such things don’t apply to the US governments/presidents.
If the Unites States isn’t complying with international law then we should be talking about sanctions, including sanctions targeted at individuals with their overseas assets frozen.
Sure, there’s no realistic likelihood of sanctions being imposed on the US and Trump, but we should at least be talking about it. It’s only by talking about things that even the vaguest possibility can be considered.
US governments/presidents are not God’s chosen people, their belief that they can do whatever they like with complete impunity is not acceptable.
EDIT : Just to be clear UK governments, including so-called ‘Labour governments’, don’t have a blemish free record when it comes to torture. And I don’t think the fact that George Bush was a bit more secretive than Trump about his fondness for torture somehow makes it more acceptable.
