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WASHINGTON - Citing news reports that the United States government may have tortured detainees or subjected them to " cruel , inhuman or degrading treatment , " the American Civil Liberties Union , the Center for Constitutional Rights and medical and veterans ' groups today asked Department of Defense and other agency officials for proof that that the U.S. is honoring its obligations under domestic and international law . Amnesty International fears that , as a result of their actual or suspected membership of the DNC and association with Rongthong Kunley Dorji , they may be tortured or ill-treated while in police custody , possibly in an attempt to extract from them the names of other DNC supporters . People may be tortured because they are activists for human rights , labor rights , or any other cause , because they are family members of these activists , or because of their identity ( ethnicity , gender , sexual identity , etc ) . There have been repeated allegations that some terrorist suspects have been turned over to third countries where they may be tortured – a process known as rendition . Whether for the right reason ( it is wrong to torture ) or for the wrong reasons ( if we torture others then we may get tortured too ) , I am glad the message is getting out ( a bit , anyway ) , and aghast yet again that we have fallen so far , so fast . We may have tortured him to death , which begs the question of how the U.S. government is any better than al-Qaeda . And both the ICCPR and the CAT specifically prohibit " refoulement " — the transfer of persons to countries where they may be tortured .