- Title: Jurists join rebuke of Trump torture remarks, "black site" reports
- Date: 26th January 2017
- Summary: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND (JANUARY 26, 2017) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF LEGAL AND POLICY DIRECTOR OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION OF JURISTS (ICJ) IAN SEIDERMAN AT DESK, WORKING ON COMPUTER (SOUNDBITE) (English) LEGAL AND POLICY DIRECTOR OF THE ICJ, IAN SEIDERMAN, SAYING: "Torture is absolutely illegal, it's a crime under international law and there are no exceptions, irrespective of who is being interrogated, what crime they may be accused of, or certainly not for purposes of intelligence gathering, which is what many of the secret black sites were aimed at doing." SEIDERMAN WORKING AT DESK/ BOOK SHELF BOOK ON SHELF TITLED (English) "THE TORTURE PAPERS, THE ROAD TO ABU GHRAIB" (SOUNDITE) (English) LEGAL AND POLICY DIRECTOR OF THE ICJ, IAN SEIDERMAN, SAYING: "This is almost unprecedented, we just came through many years of cleaning up the mess in this area that was made by a previous U.S. administration under President Bush. But even the Bush administration, while it engaged in torture, and that has been well documented, was very careful not to publicly condone torture, in fact, on a number of occasions, the President Bush himself, as well as a number of officials, condemned torture, they saw it as, they understood it was criminal activity, they saw it as something embarrassing and to be covered up." SEIDERMAN SITTING AT DESK BOOKS ON SHELF (SOUNDITE) (English) LEGAL AND POLICY DIRECTOR OF THE ICJ, IAN SEIDERMAN, SAYING: "Whether or not he (Donald Trump) carries through with executive instructions, he's already signalled to those in the field, that may have a propensity to engage in such practices, that it's ok with the leader. He's also sending a very unfortunate signal to other states and other countries who, when the leader of the U.S. says it's ok, then maybe they will think it's ok." SEIDERMAN TYPING (SOUNDBITE) (English) LEGAL AND POLICY DIRECTOR OF THE ICJ, IAN SEIDERMAN, SAYING: "It is up to the legislative branch of any country, including the U.S., to both write the laws - and the laws are in place to prohibit this - but also to engage in oversight and make sure that the branches of the executive government, including the intelligence agencies, are respecting the law." SEIDERMAN SAT AT DESK
- Embargoed: 9th February 2017 20:51
- Keywords: torture Donald Trump international law terrorism
- Location: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
- City: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
- Country: Switzerland
- Topics: Diplomacy/Foreign Policy,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA00160PZ807
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) joined global human rights groups on Thursday (January 26) in their rebuke of U.S. President Donald Trump for condoning torture.
Trump told ABC television in an interview on Wednesday (January 25) that he thought waterboarding "worked" as an intelligence-gathering tool but would defer to his cabinet on whether to use it in interrogations.
Two U.S. officials also said on Wednesday that Trump may order a review that could lead to bringing back a CIA programme for holding terrorism suspects in secret overseas "black site" prisons.
"Torture is absolutely illegal, it's a crime under international law and there are no exceptions, irrespective of who is being interrogated, what crime they may be accused of, or certainly not for purposes of intelligence gathering, which is what many of the secret black sites were aimed at doing," Ian Seiderman, Legal and Policy Director of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) told Reuters.
Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Reprieve, a British-based group which represented scores of Guantanamo detainees, have also issued rebukes.
Seiderman added that Trump, as commander-in-chief of U.S. forces, "has already signalled to those in the field that may have a propensity to engage in such practice that it is OK with the leader."
"He is also sending a very unfortunate signal to other states and other countries, when the leader of the U.S says it is OK, then maybe they will think it is OK," he added.
According to a document published in the Washington Post, Trump may be planning to revoke Obama directives including one guaranteeing ICRC access to all detainees in U.S. custody. The Trump administration has denied it came from the White House.
Torture is forbidden under U.S. and international law, and by pacts such as the U.N. Convention against Torture and the Geneva Conventions. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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