I heard on the radio yesterday that apparently some Japanese soldiers were shot for war crimes for waterboarding Allied prisoners. This sparked my interest given some 'waterboarding isn't torture' comments in here, and I did a little cursory research.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterboarding
Waterboarding is a form of torture that consists of immobilizing the victim on his or her back with the head inclined downwards, and then pouring water over the face and into the breathing passages. By forced suffocation and inhalation of water, the subject experiences drowning and is caused to believe they are about to die. It is considered a form of torture by legal experts, politicians, war veterans, intelligence officials,military judges, and human rights organizations. As early as the Spanish Inquisition it was used for interrogation purposes, to punish and intimidate, and to force confessions.
In contrast to submerging the head face-forward in water, waterboarding precipitates a gag reflex almost immediately. The technique does not inevitably cause lasting physical damage. It can cause extreme pain, dry drowning, damage to lungs, brain damage from oxygen deprivation, other physical injuries including broken bones due to struggling against restraints, lasting psychological damage or, ultimately, death. Adverse physical consequences can start manifesting months after the event; psychological effects can last for years.
In 2007 it was reported that the CIA was using waterboarding on extrajudicial prisoners and that the United States Department of Justice had authorized the procedure, a revelation that sparked a worldwide political scandal. Al-Qaeda suspects upon whom the CIA is known to have used waterboarding include Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Abu Zubaydah, and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri.
This is just part of the text, and I've taken out further reading references to make it more readable, but please go look at the page and links yourself.
I did have to laugh what was used as torture in the Spanish Inquisition (who had a whole range of tortures available, and much looser strictures on what they could and couldn't do) is now being described by some as 'not really torture'.
