As we began to discuss in class on Monday, there is already increasing discussion in scholarly and policy circles about the status of law and policy on torture. This is driven in part by statements that were made by Donald Trump during the campaign, in which he said that torture works, and that he would bring back water-boarding and much worse (for later statements along the same lines, see here).
It will be recalled that President Obama issued an Executive Order early in his first term prohibiting torture and lesser forms of coercive interrogation techniques, and that prohibition was consolidated in law last year. But there are rising concerns that the next administration may overturn these prohibitions and re-introduce interrogation techniques that constitute torture or cruel inhuman and degrading treatment. See, for example, this article on Lawfare, and this one at The Intercept.
Meanwhile, on Nov. 15 the ICC prosecutor stated that preliminary inquiry indicates that U.S. forces may have committed war crimes, including torture, in Afghanistan, thus signaling that the ICC may be getting ready to announce a full-fledged official investigation into U.S. conduct in the Afghan conflict.
On the psychological impact on victims of the U.S. interrogation program, see The New York Times special investigative reports here, here, and here.
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