No Exceptional Circumstances Whatsoever... May Be Invoked as a Justification of Torture

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UN (Geneva) CONVENTION AGAINST TORTURE and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (to which the U.S. is a signatory)

Article 2-

1) No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat or war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture.


2) An order from a superior officer or a public authority may not be invoked as a justification of torture.



from the 2013 Issue Brief for the Human Rights Council (HRC)
Responding to Accusations of Torture by the United States at Guantanamo Bay:

There are no documented examples of a terrorist attack revealed or thwarted by information recovered through torture. Successful interrogations were reportedly achieved at Guantanamo, but these relied on conventional interrogation practices stressing interrogator empathy and relationship.