Should Torture Be Allowed?

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 contrast, some individuals may debate that torture and even some more minuscule forms of torture can be beneficial to obtaining the information needed. It is debated that torture has been used in a large portion of political systems in history, and that the “degree” of torture is a significant component when deciphering right vs. wrong. Moher argues that in a political system where torture is justifiable and legal, the torture used would be less extreme than what it is today (Moher, 2013). It is reasoned that different degrees of torture are more acceptable than others, in that some are less psychologically and physically harming. A

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.

There are some that do not constitute the United States ' treatment of the prisoners at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo as torture because there were different definitions of the word. According to the Third Geneva Convention, torture is defined as "acts of violence" and "any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental is intentionally inflicted." After the September 11, 2001 attack, the United States changed its definition of torture to "physical pain amounting to torture must be equivalent in intensity to the pain accompanying serious physical injury, such as organ failure, impairment of bodily function, or even death." To be regarded as torture, the act "must cause some lasting, though not necessarily permanent damage." Some disregard these acts as simply cruel treatment and do

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

According to Joycelyn M. Pollock, torture is defined as the deliberate infliction of violence and, through violence, severe mental and/or physical suffering upon individuals. Torture, according to Christopher Tindale as quoted in Torture and the Ticking bomb by Bob Brecher,

Any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him, or a third person, information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. (85)

Do you think torture should be allowed to gain information? Dictonary.com defines tortures as, the act of inflicting excruciating pain, as punishment or revenge, as a means of getting a confession or information, or for sheer cruelty. Even though torture can sometimes be used to reveal the truth, torture should never be used because people will just say what you want them to say to get you to stop.

Today in the United States constitution we have the Eighth amendment which states that no person shall be subject to cruel and unusual punishment. Cruel and unusual punishment encompasses a wide range of things including any form of torture. Using the Merian-Webster definition, “torture is the act of causing severe physical pain as a form of punishment or as a way to force someone to do or say something.”(2013) Whether it is for the most evil and heinous crime or a minor infraction torture is not admissible in any way shape or form. In his article, “On Waterboarding: Legal Interpretation and the Continuing Struggle for Human Rights,” Daniel Kanstroom goes into depth about the question, “Should we balance heinousness and cruelty against

According to the “Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment” (Universal Declaration of Human Rights). However, the United States has not corrected the laws that regard to the use of inhumane punishing devices such as the electric chair, juvenile detention, and supermax prisons, which are “prisons where people who are mentally ill are held without their prescribed medications, causing death in several prisoners, for over 24 hours” (https://www.aclu.org). The most common type of confinement we see portrayed in the United States, whether it is on the news or on the big screen, is solitary confinement. However in the real world, that is not always the case. The government can put people into other forms of confinement, such as insufficient medical and mental care, not watching carefully enough to make sure officers don’t sexually abuse prisoners, restraint devices and electric-shock weapons, children in adult prisons, and the mistreatment of non-citizens. “In 2004, the Department of Homeland Security detained more than 200,000 non-citizens in jails and prisons for violating civil immigration laws. Reports of detainee mistreatment include unsanitary conditions of confinement, deaths due to inadequate medical treatment, and abuse by guards” (https://www.aclu.org).This abuse by

Torture has been a long standing controversy which seems to been coming up more frequently nowadays among politicians and media alike. There has always been the key argument if a man’s life is justifiably bad enough to torture and hurt, to get necessary information from. Since the beginning of our foundation torture was made a marque laws requiring the government and states alike from using, “cruel and unusual punishments” on any American prisoners (“FindLaw”). However in 2006 slight adjustments to this law were put in effect to create opportunities for getting information out of foreign captives (“FindLaw”). These prisoners were taken from the standard US judicial review and instead put under the terms of habeas corpus. This allowed the US

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

People’s imaginations start to go wild when they hear the word torture. However, there are enhanced interrogation techniques that are more humane than others. Waterboarding, for example, simulates the effect of drowning and is highly recommended by people such as former Vice President Dick Cheney (Defrank). It is highly unpleasant, but breaks no bones and leaves no bruises. It also exposes those performing the interrogation to lesser psychological strain than other methods that could be used would. Torture is accused of being a cancer in society, but if regulated and reserved for the “especially” bad guys, societal homeostasis would be maintained.

soil believe it or not and it has happened more often than you think. Without having to do deep research on the topic, you can come across these few interesting cases that shows us why torture has more cons than pros. But most importantly, why none of these cases are being dealt with. These cases often involve government individuals, like a policeman, the CIA, or the FBI. These cases have been illegally done and overlooked, or some were consented to by the court. These situations are corrupted and inhumane. As you already know, the power in our country is upheld by powerful groups of people in our government. If these individuals are in approval of these methods, what else can that