Under no circumstance is torture acceptable. Although some useful information has been gathered in this manner, for the most part torture only leads to lies, death, and despair. When torturing someone the victim is de-humanized and the techniques used are extremely harsh. Water-boarding, for example, essentially makes the victim feel as though he is drowning. According to John Sifton of Human Rights Watch, "the person believes they are being killed, and as such, it really amounts to a mock execution, which is illegal under international law." Hence, the international legality of such methods is brought into question.
Those who support the use of torture argue that it allows us to gain important information in a timely manner so that further plans of attack can be prevented. However, when being tortured, the victim will often give the interrogator any information to make the pain and suffering stop, even if that information is false. The method is therefore flawed because the information cannot be trusted and may not even be useful. The interrogator may not always be certain that the victim holds any useful information before beginning the torture. The U.S. has a policy of innocence until proven guilty. Clearly, using torture does not follow this policy. Because of this it's much easier for an innocent man to be wrongly accused and then tortured for no reason. This is exemplified in Rendition when Anwar El-Ibrahimi is wrongfully accused and tortured in an attempt to gain information that Anwar did not hold.
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