The BBC reports that the Americans have destroyed the video evidence of their tortures.
In the report, there is an excerpt from an ABC description of "water boarding".
Prisoner bound to a board with feet raised, and cellophane wrapped round his head. Water is poured onto his face and is said to produce a fear of drowning.
This is somewhat economical with the truth. The Wikipedia description of the reality of this torture is sickening to read. It is also true. Water enters the lungs, which causes agonising pain. People tortured in this way are reported to have struggled hard enough to have broken their own bones, and torn muscles away from their bones. CIA officers who subject themselves to the technique last an average of 14 seconds before caving in. Apparently the main problem with the technique is that subjects will confess to anything at all.
In 1947, the United States charged a Japanese officer, Yukio Asano, with war crimes for carrying out waterboarding on a U.S. civilian. Times have changed...
