Rights groups warn Trump against any executive action on torture
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Protesters gather in front of the US Supreme Court to mark 15 years since the first prisoners were brought to the US detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
A broad coalition of human rights, civil liberties, and religious groups has written a letter to US President Donald Trump, warning him against any executive action that would bring back torture and other abusive interrogation and detention practices.
“Torture is morally reprehensible. It has long been absolutely prohibited under both domestic and international law, a prohibition that Congress strongly reinforced on an overwhelming, bipartisan basis just last year,” read the letter which was published on the website of Human Rights Watch on Friday.
The message came a day after Trump said he was considering reinstating the use of torture, including the banned interrogation technique of waterboarding, against terrorist suspects.
The new president said he believed torture "absolutely" works and that the US should fight "fire with fire."
The rights groups, including American Civil Liberties Union, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch, reminded Trump that his nominees, cabinet members, and senior advisers have publicly rejected torture.
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