Perspectives on Torture and the War on Terrorism An evaluation on Several Arguments Tonia Jenkins Critical Thinking and Problem Solving Snelgrove June 13, 2012 Michael Yoo used several definitions from several different places to define torture in his argument. The first definition is the one he used when he defined torture as the following: act committed by a person acting under the color of law specifically intended to inflict severe physical or mental pain or suffering (other than pain or suffering incidental to lawful sanctions) upon another person within his custody or physical control. The other definition he uses it used to show what the government defines torture as. This definition is as follows: The United States …show more content…
In so doing, this understanding ensured that mental torture would rise to a severity comparable to that required in the context of physical torture. The conclusion is covered in the following few sentences. Even if certain interrogation methods being contemplated amounted to torture (and we have no facts that indicate that they would), the Rome Statute makes torture a crime subject to the ICC’s jurisdiction in only two contexts. Under article 7 of the Rome Statute, torture may fall under the ICC’s jurisdiction as a crime against humanity if it is committed as “part of a widespread and systematic attack directed against any civilian population.” Here, however, the interrogation of al Qaeda operatives is not occurring as part of such an attack. The United States’ campaign against al Qaeda operatives is not occurring as part of such an attack. The United States campaign against al Qaeda is an attack on a non-state terrorist organization, not a civilian population. If anything, the interrogations are taking place to elicit information that could prevent attacks on civilian populations. With his conclusion Yoo is saying it is alright to perform this type of behavior because it is for a very good cause. In January 2009, President Obama issued an executive order closing Guantanamo Bay and suspending military trials of several of the inmates while the judicial process is under review.
Torture is something that is known as wrong internationally. Torture is “deliberate, systematic or wanton infliction of physical or mental suffering by one or more persons acting on the orders of authority, to force a person to yield information, to confess, or any other reason” (World Medical Association, 1975, pg.1). There is a general consensus that there is a right to be free from any kind of torture as it can be found in many different human rights treaties around the world. The treaties show that all of the thoughts about torture are pointing away from the right to torture someone no matter what the case
In August of 2002, without consulting Congress, the Bush administration changed the definition of torture by military standards to allow for previously illegal interrogation techniques. (Inside Guantanamo) Bush lost a lot of respect from American citizens for doing this on his own instead of consulting Congress because it added a lot of suspicion that he was trying to hide something. The Pentagon organized the interrogation techniques into three categories. The first one included yelling and deception techniques and the second included sensory deprivation, isolation, stress positions, extensive interrogation, hooding, clothing removal, and the use of phobias. The third and most severe category included waterboarding and even death threats. (Greenberg 221) Bush wanted justice to be served to the men who planned and carried out the deaths of thousands of innocent Americans in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He thought the families of the thousands killed that day deserved that justice. Soon after, President Bush sent 14 men to Guantanamo Bay so that justice could be served to them by the military commissions he had proposed. They were to be put under the custody of the CIA where they would get what Bush thought they deserved and thanks to the Bybee Memo, Bush had complete, unlimited power when it came to core war matters such as this. While constitutional, the actions of the Bush administration as he went behind Congress’s back and came up with a new definition for torture
Torture is known as the intentional infliction of either physical or psychological harm for the purpose of gaining something – typically information – from the subject for the benefit of the inflictor. Normal human morality would typically argue that this is a wrongful and horrendous act. On the contrary, to deal with the “war on terrorism” torture has begun to work its way towards being an accepted plan of action against terrorism targeting the United States. Terroristic acts perpetrate anger in individuals throughout the United States, so torture has migrated to being considered as a viable form of action through a blind eye. Suspect terrorists arguably have basic human rights and should not be put through such psychologically and physically damaging circumstances.
David Figueroa Eng. 101A Professor Stern 4/20/15 Final draft In conclusion, in discussions of torture, one controversial issue has been on the use of it. On one hand, the people against torture argue that it is cruel and unusual punishment. On the other hand, those for torture argue that it should be used for the greater good. Others even maintain that under extreme circumstances, it may be admissible if it can save American lives. My own view is that no one should be subjected to cruel punishment because it is not only illegal, unreliable, ineffective, time consuming, it also has too many flaws that could potentially ruin innocent lives. The definition of torture is any act, whether physical or emotional, or maybe both, is intentionally subjected to a specific individual or a group for many reasons. Most of these reasons that torture is administered is for extracting information from an individual or just for punishing him/her for a crime that he/she has committed or is suspected of committing. The use of torture can be used to intimidate a person to give information that may be beneficial for a nation. The use of torture has been used for many centuries. The purposes of using torture have changed over the years as well as the methods in which a person is tortured. One crucial piece that has been established that separates us human beings from barbarians is the prohibition of using torture. There are many reasons why torture has been deemed a crime now in society. There are
There are different laws over all countries that control by every government in the world. For those who is a criminal or a prisoner, their country’s government has different laws of punishment to punish them. Torture is one of them. The function of torture is to force someone to say something and as a punishment. Torture is unacceptable which I disagree on which it is an action of inhumanly.
The Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution says, “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.” The fundamental idea of torture is to inflict mental or physical pain onto a suspect to coerce them into revealing information we desire. This tactic is illegal because it violates the Constitution, and in addition, it violates international agreements that our nation has committed itself to. The general provisions of the Geneva Conference of 1949 prevent the use of torture in warfare; the document specifically outlaws “Outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating or degrading treatment…” By violating these laws, particularly the Constitution, our nation
Torture has long been a controversial issue in the battle against terrorism. Especially, the catastrophic incident of September 11, 2001 has once again brought the issue into debate, and this time with more rage than ever before. Even until today, the debate over should we or should we not use torture interrogation to obtain information from terrorists has never died down. Many questions were brought up: Does the method go against the law of human rights? Does it help prevent more terrorist attacks? Should it be made visible by law? It is undeniable that the use of torture interrogation surely brings up a lot of problems as well as criticism. One of the biggest problems is that if torture is effective at all. There are
From the beginning of the live marketing project, Edmond's Historical Museum, to the end of the live presentation, I committed 100% of myself to the team by being actively involved. My first contribution was visiting the Edmond's Historical Museum on September 28th, 2017 where I gathered notes by effectively listening to Katie Kelly. This was for the purpose of being able to analyze the data at a later time. The data research that I was able to gleam from Katie, included that the museum is seeing a decline in their memberships, there was not enough volunteers to actively seek out renewals, and a majority of the Edmond's transplants moved changing the demographics, and that new exhibits would come
The 8th amendment is very anti torture. It prohibits “cruel and unusual punishments” (“Eighth Amendment”). An example of a cruel and unusual punishment is walling. Being thrown against a hard brick wall is very cruel. Also being forced nude is pretty cruel. Many detainees are put in stress positions for many hours. These positions have their hands shackled to their head. The United Nations has banned torture. According to the UN they stated that “This prohibition is absolute and non-degradable.” Any nations in the UN that ratified the law makes it illegal in their country. This makes torture illegal in Gitmo because it is in Cuba. Many people say that if the CIA tortures people abroad it is legal. Even torture in black sites is illegal. Additionally, the United States and many other nations signed the Geneva Convention. This was signed shortly after World War II. In the treaty it states that torture is prohibited. Also, inhumane treatment is prohibited. This means things like waterboarding and sleep deprivation are banned. As you can see the US and many other nations have signed treaties banning torture. If the US tortures suspected terrorists other nations will think it is okay. They may even use it on our
Torture, being defined by the 1984 Convention Against Torture is the “cruel, inhumane, or degrading infliction of severe pain or suffering, physical or mental, on a prisoner to obtain information or a confession, or to mete out a punishment for a suspected crime” (Beehner), is condemned and considered illegal by the United States of America and carries severe punishment for those that carry out the act. Yet the numerous amounts of maltreatment of the detainees held by the US during the War on Terror has led to humanitarian interference and, more notably, concern from the United Nations assembly. The most prominent facility in which these detainees are being held is the Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp, a site used for indefinite detention (mostly without trial), yet other secret prisons (operated by the CIA) are scattered about the world, which are also used for “enhanced” interrogation purposes.
As research advances in finding answers and treatment for diseases, the process of obtaining a patient’s informed consent becomes more detailed required. The informed consent is known as the cornerstone of Good Clinical Practice for ensuring patient safety. In a normal clinical paced environment, time is given to ensure patients are provided all the required information and the time to make a rational and voluntary decision to participate in a study. At times this process is not feasible do to emergency situations, such as when a patient arrives in the emergency room in a compromised mental and physical state that does not permit ample time for this process. Such cases
In the United States legal system, torture is currently defined as “an act committed by a person acting under the color of law specifically intended to inflict severe physical or mental pain or suffering (other than pain or suffering incidental to lawful sanctions) upon another person within his custody or physical control.” as defined by Office of the Law Revision Counsel, U.S. House of Representatives (US Code, 1) Though this is a seemingly black and white definition, the conditional “…other than pain or suffering incidental to lawful sanctions…” have led many to question what precisely this entails. In other words, what are the lawful sanctions that permit such acts? Are they ethically right? Where is the line drawn as torture
In 2002, the Office of Legal Counsel responded to the President’s request of exploring the question whether American officials have the right to use torture against suspected terrorists. Assistant Attorney General Jay S. Bybee of the Office of Legal Counsel not only legalized the use of torture for U.S. officials but also defined torture in the narrowest way. He defines torture as inflicting physical pain, or any serious physical injury such as failure of organs or at the most
[PDF]Case Study: Transport Corporation of India Limitedsiteresources.worldbank.org/.../t...পাতাটিকে অনুবাদ করে দেখাও(TCI), as a major cargo transport company, recognized the importance ... The information in the TCI case study is based on personal interviews with TCI Foun- .... cess to medical records, it also supports analysis providing useful insights.