Saturday, April 26, 2008
3:15 PM
Application Question 1-Torture
For much of history torture was used quite commonly. Civilizations such as the Egyptians, Persians, the Greeks and the Romans all used torture. Torture involves deliberately inflicting physical or mental on a person without legal cause or threats to family members or loved ones. Incidents of torture can be seen in prisons such as Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib Prison. Torture may seem cruel as it is against humanity, but on further thinking, I feel that the use of torture is justified in dealing with criminals and terrorists depending on the severity of crimes.
I agree that torture should be used on criminals (e.g. serial killers or rapists) and terrorists (e.g. masterminds of bombings) in order to ensure the security of the state. If u look at the case of the 9/11 bombings, many Americans will not disagree on using torture on terrorists. Torture is necessary as the US state have to ensure that the terrorists confess to their crimes and also try to gain information from their confession, such as naming of other accomplices or location of headquarters. All this information is very important as it will hopefully uncover hidden plots of similar terrorist attacks and thus reduce the damage and causalities that might result. Torture can be used as a punishment on criminals, so that it actually acts as deterrence by intimidating would-be criminals from committing crimes.
However, torture is prohibited under international criminal law as it is an inhumane act which causes severe pain or suffering, serious injury to the body and or to mental or physical health. Torture is an effective interrogation tool. Not all information extracted from torturing criminals is true. Torture may well produce false information because under torture a prisoner will eventually say anything to stop the pain-regardless of whether it is true. Hence the interrogator will never be “sure” that they are getting the truth and will never know when to stop. Torture should not be used on criminals unless there is sufficient evidence. At the end of the day the criminal will be deeply traumatized if he is found to be innocent and released. Sometimes, authorities who are pressed by higher authorities or the public to solve crimes resort to using torture to make the suspected criminal confess so that they can close the case quickly. Cases like this can be found in China, especially in rural areas. There are also more effective methods of interrogation that do not involve torture. A poll in 2006 shows that 72% of Britons oppose torture in any circumstances-even where its use would save lives.
Therefore, in conclusion, I stand by my point of view that although torture is cruel, it should be applied on criminals and terrorists depending on the situation.
Jessie:0
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