To stop it from happening

[T]orture, which includes CID [cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment], has historically been an instrument of oppression - not an instrument of investigation or of intelligence gathering. No country needs to invent how to "legalize" torture; the problem is rather how to stop it from happening.

That's from a piece by Vladimir Bukovsky in the Washington Post for December 2005. I hadn't previously come across it. Read the whole thing. It's particularly pertinent in the light of the conclusions of Dick Marty's inquiry being reported today:

European governments collaborated with the United States in the "extraordinary rendition" of terror suspects, a report by Europe's top human rights body is expected to claim today.

According to an advance copy of the report by the Council of Europe, obtained by the BBC, Britain and 13 other countries are implicated in the practice of transferring terror suspects to a third country for questioning. Human rights groups have criticised the process, saying that it exposes detainees to the risk of torture.

Exposing people to the risk of torture is wrong because torture is wrong. It is an absolute wrong. It cannot be justified by the war on terror, or by anything.