Islam Times - Trump Endorsement of Torture Urges Other Leaders to Follow Suit: UN Pundit

Islam Times - A top UN lawyer warned that US President Donald Trump’s endorsement of using torture as an interrogation tactic encourages other countries to follow suit and authorize similar practices.

Speaking at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, UN special rapporteur on protecting human rights Ben Emmerson said Trump was the first democratically-elected leader to approve of such practices.

"To hear President Trump, in the first days after his inauguration, glibly extolling the virtues of torture as a weapon in the fight against terrorism, and confirming his personal willingness to authorize the use of torture if asked to do so, was enough to make my blood run cold," Emmerson said.

“That is a state of affairs which lays down the gauntlet, it lays down a precedent,” the British lawyer continued.

Repeating one of his most controversial campaign pledges, Trump said in late January that the practice of waterboarding -- a form of simulated drowning -- "absolutely" worked as a means of extracting information from terror suspects.

The real estate mogul also said that he would defer to his Defense Secretary James Mattis on the issue, admitting that the Pentagon chief disagreed with him on the use of torture.

Emmerson argued that Trump’s comments revealed his “staggering level of ill-preparedness to govern.”