From the editor’s desk

Extraordinary and unacceptable

Accusations have been made that the United States is using torture against unidentified suspects held as part of its ?war on terrorism?. Either it tortures them itself, perhaps at secret detention centres, or it passes them on ? ?renders? them in the jargon ? to countries whose security services do use torture, such as Egypt. Rumours are circulating that the CIA moves suspects around for the purposes of this rendition using unmarked aircraft, some of which are known to land frequently at airports in Europe and elsewhere. The American Government, most recently and comprehensively through its Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, has categorically denied any illegality, though she defended the practice of rendition itself as a ?useful weapon?. In the absence of firm evidence to the contrary, governments around the world that have been worried by the allegations, including the British, have little choice but to take these denials at face value. Tony Blair did as much in the House of Commons on Wednesday.

Nevertheless the issue has already done further damage to America?s standing overseas. It is right to accept that combating organised international terrorism poses unprecedented challenges to the security services of all the countries affected. But the United States Government has deliberately deprived itself of the most effective way of refuting any rumours and allegations about its conduct towards terrorist suspects, namely allowing suspects access to lawyers and the courts. It claimed that its prisoners in Guant?namo Bay were outside the protection of the law, both American and international; and the same applies to terrorist suspects in United States custody elsewhere. Hence when Miss Rice says her Government is doing nothing unlawful, she may be saying nothing more than that the law does not cover such cases ? where there are no rules, they can hardly be broken.

In any event, leaks from sources close to the CIA suggest that the agency has hit upon a disingenuous redefinition of torture that does not rule out actions such as slapping with the hand, which would, for instance, be viewed as a criminal assault in the British courts. The relevant international conventions prohibit not only torture itself but cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment. If being slapped about and made to squat while deprived of sleep is not degrading, then the word has lost all meaning. In any event information extracted by such means is pretty worthless, because the victims of such treatment will tend to say whatever the interrogators want to hear.

Torture, however defined, is abhorrent and can never be justified. The United States Government needs to come to its senses quickly, and realise that the long-term damage to its relations with the rest of the world far offsets any marginal advantages that might be gained by these means in the struggle against terrorism. The idea has taken hold in Washington that America is somehow above the law that applies to all other states, and may flout international conventions and public opinion with impunity. Particularly in the Muslim world, this acts as a provocation to terrorism and is therefore a cause of further danger to the American people ? and their allies.