Quote:
Originally Posted by timalkin
Well shit, if Myth Busters can do it, it must be OK. I wonder if they can legally waterboard terrorists?
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No, dude, haven't you been reading? It's NOT legal to waterboard "terrorists", no matter who you are.
It's illegal (under a UN Convention that per the rules of this kind of thread I can't cite and so I'll bastardize by paraphrasing) when done by a government or under direct military orders.
If an individual waterboards somebody else against their will without being ordered to do so by a military superior or the like, I'd think it's probably assault of some type. Plus you'd probably have to have kidnapped them or incapacitated them in some way to get them ON the waterboard, so likely more things you could be charged with there.
That's all assuming the "victim" is not consenting. If the "terrorist" volunteers to be waterboarded on mythbusters... well, they'd still be smart to get him to sign a release. I agree with you that Will stepping up to torture his friends in their garage sounds like a uniquely bad idea, but there wasn't anything criminal in it.