General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Obama is BOUND BY LAW to prosecute torture. [View all]KingCharlemagne
(7,908 posts)understanding is that federal statutes 18 USC 2340 and 18 USC 2340A were specifically crafted, passed and signed into law to clarify this ambiguity of jurisdictions and make it absolutely clear that torture by U.S. personnel on U.S. territory or any other foreign territories constitutes a direct violation of our federal statutes. IOW, Reagan signed the U.N. Convention Against Torture in 1987 and the Senate ratified it, ironically, during George H.W. Bush's tenure in 1990. The two federal statutes referenced above were subsequently adopted precisely to bring US code into conformity with the U.N. Convention.
If you are an attorney, then I will defer to your superior knowledge of the law. Otherwise, we are simply two laypeople exchanging educated opinions. That's what a discussion board is for, I suppose