U.S. officials have confirmed that the CIA's use of waterboarding required strapping the prisoners down and pouring water over their faces to make them fear that they were being drowned.
Experts on human rights abuses and torture say the approach is similar to the technique employed by the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, by the French in Algeria and, as recently as last year, by the dictatorship in Burma.
The use of cellophane in waterboarding is known as a "dry submarine," while the use of cloth dates back to the 1600s and is known as the "Dutch method." The "Dutch method" was also a favorite tactic used by police in the American South in the 1920s.
Tom Malinowski, Washington advocacy director for Human Rights Watch, said the administration's rationale has exposed Americans to risk of mistreatment by other countries. "If Iran or North Korea wanted a blueprint for how to torture an American prisoner without upsetting the Bush administration, they would just need to read what our government is admiting," Malinowski said.
17 February, 2008
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