Torture ban passed by U.S. Senate

The Senate voted 78 to 21 to approve a defence bill amendment that bans torture. It was introduced by Republican SenatorJohn McCain of Arizona and Democratic SenatorDianne Feinstein of California.

The amendment bolsters current law and makes the U.S. Army field manual on interrogations the standard for all interrogations conducted by the U.S. government. It also gives the International Committee of the Red Cross access to every detainee held by the U.S.

• U.S. Senate report condemns CIA harsh interrogations
• CIA torture report: 7 things we learned
• 8 times U.S. officials defended CIA interrogations

The vote comes just months after the Senate intelligence committee released findings of a classified investigation that said the Central Intelligence Agency's harsh interrogations of al-Qaeda detainees following9/11 were worse than previously thought.