UN Human Rights Chief Says Trump Torture Talk Unsettling
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The UN human rights chief said he is "amazed" by US President Donald Trump's support of torture in interrogations, calling the prospect of reviving the practice in the United States "profoundly unsettling."
Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein called torture "repugnant" and "useless" in a Wednesday speech to Vanderbilt University Law School students in Tennessee, AP reported.
White House officials declined to respond and cited Trump's previous statements that he'd defer to Defense Secretary James Mattis, who has said he opposes torture.
Zeid contended that the embrace of torture often appears to stem from anger and fear, and he directed criticisms at populist leaders like Trump.
"I have been amazed by the President's openly voiced personal support for torture," Zeid said. "The prospect that torture, or some airbrushed version of it, could be revived in this country, potentially in response to some future terrorist outrage, is profoundly unsettling."
Before the election, Zeid said Trump would be "dangerous from an international point of view" and said he's among the "populists and demagogues" whose tactics of communication resemble Daesh (ISIL or ISIS) terrorist group-style propaganda.
"Populists are using words to paint images of hordes of rapacious outsiders stealing jobs, engaged in crime and sowing terror; stories with clear villains and easy fixes," Zeid said Wednesday. "These are dangerous fabrications."
The US president has said he believes torture works.
In an interview with ABC News in January, Trump said he would wage war against Daesh militants with the goal of keeping the US safe. Asked about the simulated drowning technique known as waterboarding, Trump cited the extremist group's atrocities against Christians and others and said, "We have to fight fire with fire."
