I cannot see what is so difficult about an outright condemnation of police torture - you always like to hedge - as in the example below:
Never justified, yet you know it goes on, within the parameters of 'rendition' and in many countries around the world.
And then
I wonder whether you would say the same if a close friend of yours or a relative, could have been saved, or hundreds of peoples lives, say by rendition of a terrorist who under examination/torture revealed the details of a major terrorist operation before it was carried out.
I think we will have to agree to differ on this Stephen.
Still worse than police torture is a court ruling that someone is deemed to have 'lied' during interrogation under police torture, and to have had a sentence increased because they were deemed to have 'lied'.
In such circumstances, the only safe, sane and proper course would have been to quash the conviction; at the very least, to have allowed a re-trial.
Don't suppose this post will see light of day, though ....