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September 6, 2008 1:42:05 AM CDT

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Waterboarding Is Illegal: Justice Dept.

Posted Feb 14, 08 8:18 AM CST in US,  Politics 

(Newser) – A top Justice Department official will declare to a House subcommittee today that waterboarding is no longer legal—a day after Congress defied President Bush's veto threat to explicitly outlaw the controversial interrogation tactic. "The set of interrogation methods authorized for current use is narrower than before, and it does not today include waterboarding," says testimony prepared by Stephen Bradbury, acting head of the Office of Legal Counsel.

Bradbury's comments, the agency's first such statement on the hot-button topic, follow CIA revelations that agents waterboarded three prisoners. In 2005 Bradbury authorized the CIA to use waterboarding, but the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 prohibited cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, and the military forbade the practice in 2006. Waterboarding is still officially an option for the CIA but must be approved by the president and attorney general.  

Sources Associated Press, Reuters

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Demonstrators from the group "World Can't Wait" hold a mock waterboarding to protest the CIA's use of the interrogation practice.   (Getty Images (by Event) Individuals)
CIA Director Lt. Gen. Michael Hayden testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2008. The Senate has joined the House in voting to prohibit the CIA from using waterboarding and other harsh...   (Associated Press)
Attorney General Michael Mukasey is sworn-in on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2008.   (Associated Press)
Anti-Mukasey Protestors Hold Demonstration Of "Waterboarding"   (Getty Images)
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George W. Bush  • Congress  • Senate  • CIA  • Department of Justice  • torture  • waterboarding  • Michael Hayden  • Chuck Hagel  • Steven Bradbury


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