Waterboarding is torture, says Arbour

Louise Arbour speaks during a press conference in Mexico City, Friday, Feb. 8, 2008.

MEXICO CITY,Saturday (AP) - The United Nations' top human rights official said Friday that waterboarding - a tactic used by the U.S. in its battle against terror - qualifies as torture. The Bush administration acknowledged for the first time this week that it waterboarded al-Qaeda detainees. Vice President Dick Cheney said it was "a good thing" that the prisoners had been forced to give up helpful information.

The interrogation method involves strapping a person down and pouring water over his cloth-covered face to create the sensation of drowning."I would have no difficulty describing the practice as falling under" international definitions of torture, said Louise Arbour, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, at a news conference wrapping up a four-day visit to Mexico.

She praised "Mexico's international advocacy for the rights of migrant workers, for persons with disabilities and against the death penalty," but expressed concern about Mexico's use of heavily armed soldiers to fight drug trafficking and other organized crime.

Arbour said use of the military should be "a short-term solution" and should be used "with maximum human rights protections."