Yesterday’s Guardian:

The government is undermining the ban on torture enshrined in domestic and international law in a mistaken belief that it would help counter terrorism, a human rights group warns today.

The warning, by Human Rights Watch, comes as Whitehall is believed to be drawing up a law allowing the government and the courts to balance the risk of torture against national security. (more)

Where did the notion arise that “national security” trumps everything? It doesn’t. A state which practises torture, or which allows torture to be used by others, is guilty of crimes against humanity, and is therefore not entitled to “national security”.

FURTHER: Regarding the Torture of Others by Susan Sontag, on Abu Ghraib (via consumptive.org, which lacks permalinks)