WASHINGTON—The International Committee of the Red Cross said Thursday that waterboarding is torture, the first time the group has publicly declared that a specific interrogation technique—one employed by the U.S.—violates the Geneva Conventions.
The Geneva-based humanitarian organization, which oversees the treaty, weighed in amid renewed U.S. debate over Central Intelligence Agency practices after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, which included waterboarding several detainees at so-called black sites overseas. The CIA and lawmakers have been fighting over publication of portions of an extensive Senate Intelligence Committee report said to be critical of the spy agency's conduct.
"The definition of torture is any technique that causes severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, inflicted for a purpose, such as obtaining information or a confession, exerting pressure, intimidation or humiliation," said Anna Nelson, the International Red Cross spokeswoman in Washington. "Waterboarding fits into this category and therefore qualifies as torture" under U.S. and international law, she added.
