11/03/2008 Legal Affairs and Human Rights
Strasbourg, 11.03.2008 – Dick Marty, Rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on secret detentions and illegal transfers of detainees in Europe, has protested against President Bush's veto of a law aimed at banning the use of waterboarding:
"Waterboarding is a mock execution, no more, no less. It ranks as torture under internationally recognised definitions.It is deplorable that President Bush has opposed both Congress and Senate by using his veto. I find it sad that the United-States, long a model democracy built on the rule of law, is setting such a bad example."
According to the PACE report on secret detentions in Europe, waterboarding is among the abuses suffered by persons detained in these places, part of the High Value Detainee Programme revealed by Dick Marty.