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Amnesty International Reminds Presidential Candidates that Waterboarding is Torture

Prior to the Republican presidential nominee debate regarding national security on Tuesday, November 22, Tom Parker, Amnesty International USA policy director for terrorism, counterterrorism and human rights, issued the following statement:

"As the candidates prepare from Tuesday evening's debate, Amnesty International would like to remind them that torture is prohibited in all its forms under both United States and international law. As both President Barack Obama and U.S. Senator John McCain reiterated recently, waterboarding is torture.

WASHINGTON

Prior to the Republican presidential nominee debate regarding national security on Tuesday, November 22, Tom Parker, Amnesty International USA policy director for terrorism, counterterrorism and human rights, issued the following statement:

"As the candidates prepare from Tuesday evening's debate, Amnesty International would like to remind them that torture is prohibited in all its forms under both United States and international law. As both President Barack Obama and U.S. Senator John McCain reiterated recently, waterboarding is torture.

"At the previous national security debate in early November, some candidates spoke out in favor of reintroducing the unlawful interrogation techniques that led to the horrors of Abu Ghraib among other things. It has been widely established by military experts that these techniques are counterproductive at best.

"As a party to the United Nations Convention against Torture, the United States has an obligation to reject such methods and hold those who use them accountable before the law. Any candidate that embraces unlawful interrogation tactics not only does a terrible disservice to torture victims everywhere, but to a country already terribly wounded by its past behavior."

Amnesty International is a global movement of millions of people demanding human rights for all people - no matter who they are or where they are. We are the world's largest grassroots human rights organization.

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