House Passes Bill Banning Waterboarding
The U.S. House of Representatives has passed a bill that would bar the Central Intelligence Agency from using waterboarding and other harsh interrogation techniques.
The bill passed yesterday would restrict CIA interrogators to techniques permitted in the U.S. Army Field Manual, which also bans sexual humiliation, mock executions and the use of attack dogs, the Washington Post reports.
The White House says it will veto a waterboarding ban. Some key Republicans also object to it. U.S. Rep. Peter Hoekstra, R-Mich., says restricting methods to those in the unclassified field manual gives terrorists too much information.
“Congress should not be in the business of voluntarily giving al-Qaida or any of our adversaries our playbook,” he said.
The vote comes as the House Intelligence Committee took steps to gather more information about the CIA’s destruction of two videotapes showing harsh interrogations of al-Qaida suspects, the New York Times reports. The committee wants documents and e-mails regarding the videotapes and legal advice about their destruction.
Jose Rodriguez Jr., the official said to have ordered destruction of the tapes, has hired high-profile lawyer Robert Bennett. Rodriguez was chief of the CIA’s clandestine branch.
