The historic position of the government of the United States has been to oppose torture and to seek its elimination around the world.

America's opposition to torture began with the American Revolution and the Declaration of Independence's proclamation of universal individual human rights: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness." In 1863, in the midst of the brutalities of the Civil War, President Lincoln forbade his forces from acts of cruelty, including torture. After the barbarities of World War II, America led an emergent community of United Nations to adopt in 1948 the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, with its provision that "No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment (Art. 5)." In 1975, the United States aided in the United Nations adoption of a separate Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Being Subjected to Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment. In 1988 President Reagan signed and in 1994 the United States ratified the United Nations Convention Against Torture, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the most comprehensive legally binding international treaty prohibiting the use of torture. The U.N. Convention's prohibition against torture is absolute, without exceptions.