UK lawmakers appeal to government not to trust US assurances on torture

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Britain cannot trust the US when it says it does not torture terror suspects in its custody, a parliamentary committee said in a report released Sunday. The Foreign Affairs Committee examined waterboarding - a practice that involves restraining a person and pouring water over his or her face to simulate drowning. The Bush administration considers waterboarding legal and US officials have referred to it as an "enhanced interrogation technique." British officials are unequivocal: Waterboarding is torture. "Given the clear differences in definition, the UK can no longer rely on US assurances that it does not use torture, and we recommend that the government does not rely on such assurances in the future," the committee said in the report.