Water cure is a form of Torture. In one variation, of which the subject is tied or held down in a chair and with his face covered with a cloth, water is poured over his face. The subject feels like he is drowning and this is done to encourage the subject to talk. Another variation is to pour water down the throat of the subject being careful not to drown the subject but to make the subject feel the sensation of drowning.

In June 2004, it was revealed that the United States Department of Justice had written memos stipulating that torture was not illegal unless it was intended to cause extreme physical pain, and it was further revealed that torture with water was being used on prisoners at Camp X-ray in Guantanamo Bay. There is evidence that water boarding was recently used in Abu Ghraib and was one of the forms of torture used on those detained there.