Torture and High Coercive Internationals: Is There A Line Under International Law?

Torture and High Coercive Interrogations: Is There A Line Under International Law?

The international media have recently shed the light on disturbing practices of interrogation that have been used in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo. At the same time, we witness a shift of discursive techniques and language regarding torture and high coercive techniques of interrogation. The effect is that the line between high coercive interrogations and torture has been blurred, regardless of international law and human rights treaties. This paper discusses the issue whether there is a limit to the use of such techniques and whether high coercive interrogation methods are a cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment, prohibited under international law. The first of the paper presents and describes the methods used and qualified as high coercive methods of interrogations. The second part deals with the legal and moral differences between torture and high coercive interrogations. In the third part the paper looks at the way courts and commissions qualify the methods described. Eventually, the paper analyzes if a line can be drawn under international law between torture and high coercive interrogations or if both are prohibited under international law.