[JURIST] US Senator John McCain (R-AZ) [official website] said Thursday that information which led to the death of al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden [WP obituary; JURIST news archive] was not obtained through torture. Speaking on the floor of the US Senate [official website], McCain said that the name of Bin Laden’s courier was not obtained from accused 9/11 conspirator Khalid Sheikh Mohammed [BBC profile; JURIST news archive], contradicting reports from several current and former US officials:

In an op-ed published Thursday in the Washington Post, McCain argued that certain enhanced interrogation techniques, such as waterboarding, constitute torture and that he opposes such techniques, saying, “abuse of prisoners sometimes produces good intelligence but often produces bad intelligence.”

Bin Laden was killed [JURIST report] earlier this month in Pakistan by a small team of US military personnel. His death has ignited debate over whether it complied with international law. UN human rights officials have called on the US to disclose all details [JURIST report] related to Bin Laden’s death. US Attorney General Eric Holder [official website] has defended the killing as lawful and justified [JURIST report].