CIA torture included involuntary rectal feeding and rectal hydration, naked shackling, waterboarding, standing sleep deprivation, days in a coffin-size confinement box...the list goes on

The US Senate report on theCIA and torture releasedmakes it clear that the US has systematically violated the prohibition against torture. Despite the report being made public, US politicians, security service personnel and commentators are defending the CIA’s ‘right’ to torture individuals. The report also notes the other countries that were complicit in or partners to those practices. When Global North countries that hold themselves out as bastions of liberalism are willing to practice torture, then how can those same states criticise emerging democracies and non-democratic countries for doing the same?