AI calls for criminal investigations against President Bush

From USA: Former President's defence of torture highlights need for criminal investigations

"In the NBC interview, former President Bush said that he authorized the interrogation techniques in question because government lawyers had cleared them as legal under US law, and he asserted that using them had “saved lives”. Asked whether he would make the same decision today, the former President responded that “Yeah, I would”.

Under international law, torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment are never legal. No lawyer can render them lawful; no politician, legislator, judge, soldier, police officer, prison guard, medical professional or interrogator can override this prohibition. Even in a time of war or threat of war, even in a state of emergency which threatens the life of the nation, there can be no exemption from this obligation. The same is true of enforced disappearance.

Whether torture is effective or not in obtaining useful information is irrelevant to the question of whether it is lawful – it never is – or whether an individual responsible for torture is to be investigated or prosecuted."