Is there a law against torture?

Answer 1

The Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits "cruel and unusual punishment," which most people interpret to be a law against torture. On the international level, the Geneva Convention prohibits torture and general mistreatment of prisoners of war.

The reason there is currently a debate in the United States over the legality of certain acts that some call torture is that there is no consensus on the precise definition of "torture," and especially not on how it relates to "cruel and unusual punishment." Certain practices, like waterboarding, are ambiguous in this respect because little lasting physical harm is done to the victim, though psychological trauma is pervasive.

Other justification for certain invasive interrogation methods used at the Guantánamo Bay detention facility includes several points. First, the facility is not in a U.S. state, so perhaps the constitution does not apply to it. Second, the victims are not U.S. citizens, so they may not be protected by the Constitution. Third, the victims are not uniformed enemy soldiers, so the Geneva Convention may not apply to them.

There is substantial debate about all of these things.