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The anti-torture group is lobbying for a congressional investigation of U.S. treatment of suspects and prisoners since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Government lawyers who drew up the legal basis for the Bush administration's use of harsh interrogation methods against terror suspects argued that the president had broad wartime authority that could not be limited by domestic law or international bans on torture.
One government legal memo defined torture, as recognized by U.S. law, as covering "only extreme acts" causing pain similar in intensity to that caused by organ failure or accompanying death. An internal Justice Department investigation is considering whether such advice was improper.
-- Associated Press
COMBATING TERRORISM
Vatican Creates Teams to Help Police
The Vatican has formed two anti-terrorism teams that will work with police to prevent attacks, the Holy See's security director said.
The rapid-intervention and anti-sabotage groups will be subunits of the Vatican's gendarme corps, said corps director Domenico Giani. The Vatican also has begun closer collaboration with Interpol, the International Criminal Police Organization, according to a June 7 report in L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper.
The Vatican and Pope Benedict XVI have been named as potential terror targets in recent years. An al-Qaeda leader recently accused the pope of leading a campaign against Islam.
Although the Vatican has downplayed the threats, it has also strengthened security, adding metal-detectors at St. Peter's Basilica and papal events.
