Torture ban 'a casualty of war on terror'

The UN human rights chief warned that the global ban on torture is becoming a casualty of the “war on terror,” singling out the reported US practices of sending terrorist suspects to other countries and holding prisoners in secret detention.

Louise Arbour told a news conference she chose the theme of ”terrorists and torturers” to mark Saturday’s annual commemoration of the UN’s adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 because the absolute ban on torture, once believed to be unassailable, is under attack.