“The administration is setting a dangerous example for the world when it claims that spy agencies are above the law… Congress should reject this proposal outright. Otherwise, the United States will have no standing to demand humane treatment if an American falls into the hands of foreign intelligence services.”

— Tom Malinowski, Washington director of Human Rights Watch, condemning the recent proposal for a presidential waiver for a measure — approved only earlier this month — that would forbid the CIA and U.S. military for using “cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment” on any detained individual, regardless of his or her location.

The waiver would exempt non-military counterterrorism operations abroad against foreign citizens from the earlier prohibition against “cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment.” This is not to say that torture doesn’t routinely occur around the world under government auspices; however, the U.S. would be breaking new ground if it creates a legal justification for something approaching torture. The repercussions of such an allowance, Malinowski warns, would be to fling open the doors to outright torture.

Mimi Hanaoka