WASHINGTON, Oct. 27 (UPI) -- U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney has sparked controversy with comments advocating the use of "a dunk in water" as an interrogation technique.
Human rights activists have said Cheney's comments, made during an interview with conservative radio host Scott Hennen, amounted to advocating the use of a controversial interrogation technique called waterboarding, The Washington Post reported Friday.
"Would you agree a dunk in water is a no-brainer if it can save lives?" Hennen asked.
"Well, it's a no-brainer for me," Cheney said, "but for a while there, I was criticized as being the vice president for torture. We don't torture. That's not what we're involved in."
Rights groups blasted Cheney's comments as running contradictory to recent legislation that banned interrogation techniques that violate the Geneva Conventions and U.S. criminal law.
"I think the context is clear that he's agreeing that what the interviewer suggested -- dunking people in water to interrogate them -- is a no-brainer," said John Sifton, a senior researcher on terrorism and counterterrorism at Human Rights Watch. "Basically, what the vice president did is inject ambiguity into a situation in which Congress and the military thinks there is no ambiguity."
