• Mutilating body parts, traumatic removal of body parts • Amputation of digits and limbs, removal of organs • Asphyxiations: drowning, smothering, choking, chemicals • Chemical exposures in wounds, body cavities • Attacks by animals, dental torture • Exhaustion, forced labour, starvation Psychological Torture • Threatening to harm or kill the victim or the victim 's relatives • Forced witnessing or hearing the torture of others • Mock execution, forced to harm others • Denigration and humiliations, threats of attacks by animals • Violations of taboos, violation of religion INTERNATIONAL COMMITMENT Custodial Torture has been the concern of international community as the problem is universal and challenge is almost global. The US Supreme Court in case of Munn vs. People of Illinois observed that life is not merely an animal existence. The soul behind the bar cannot be denied the same because such person does not cease to be a human being. Just being in prison does not deprive them from their fundamental rights. International law prohibits torture and other forms of inhuman and degrading treatment, which cannot be accepted under any circumstances. One of the earliest measures was taken by the United Nations to abolish corporal punishment in colonial territories in 1949. United Nations Standards The United Nations has a developed a number of standards related to the prevention of torture, including: • Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners • Basic Principles
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
With the development of prisons, this changed how punishment and torture was viewed, at least in the public eye. The act of torturing, however unfortunate, comes naturally in regards to punishment. A big reason to why torture is no longer heard about in the prisons is because torture is now done the private spectrum instead of in
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
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
Torture falls under the category of cruel and unusual punishment, however circumstance can sway the attitude towards the use of torture. The most prevalent example in society, as well as the one used in the article “The Torture Debate” by Philip Rumney and Martin O’Boyle is terrorism. Based on the information presented in the article I agree that a legalized torture system should be developed under specific
Is there a case for torture? Throughout the world for many centuries torture has been a highly debated and very controversial topic. It all started in Greece when slaves would get tortured to collect evidence for trials, crimes against the state, and treason. Not long after, the Roman Catholic Church and the Nazis’ began to use torture as well. During this time witnesses noticed what was going on and did not agree with it but had no way of stopping it. All across the world, a group of nations came together to make an agreement in opposition to torture. Not all nations were agreeing to not allow torture in their country, yet the majority of countries did agree. Even today it is hard to make the whole world agree to not doing something but making these agreements allow individual countries to comprise a support system. Many public figures and educators have made their opinion public but it has not yet evoked a change in the agreements originally set by the Geneva Convention. Torture is still today a very controversial topic with compelling arguments for both sides of whether to torture or to not.
Following along with the ticking time bomb scenario or any other future terrorist attack, many opponents of torture like to argue, how do the investigators really know the person they have in custody is for sure the terrorist who knows where the location of the bomb is or any other information that is needed. What if that isn’t the right person and the one who is in custody is being tortured but is completely innocent. The way that technology is improving and advancing from day to day, the idea of being wrong is very rare (Torture). Before investigators and researchers take the time to arrest the terrorist and get them in custody, they do precise investigations to make sure they are right. They will not take into custody and torture the person
The United Nations defines torture as any act by which severe physical or mental pain or suffering is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining information or a confession, or punishing a person for an act that he is suspected of having committed. Torture also includes intimidating or coercing a person for any reason based on discrimination of any kind when a person acting in an official capacity inflicts pain or suffering (Convention Against Torture para. 2). Although some people believe that torture is acceptable, in reality it is neither an acceptable nor a reliable method for obtaining information and should not be continued.
Should torture and the threat of torture be morally and legally acceptable, then in all levels involving local, state and federal systems should be able to use torture techniques. If something is acceptable for one legal system, then all legal systems should be able to perform the same task. If there is restrictions on which legal systems can use torture, then there would not be any checks and
Torture methods administered during the medieval times were much more malicious than today’s punishments. In the United States, torturing individuals is forbidden regardless of the circumstance. Using torture as a punishment has been outlawed by the U.S. Supreme court since the 1890’s, and is now included in the Eight amendment.
Torture is the action or practice of inflicting severe pain on someone as a punishment or to force them to do or say something, or for the pleasure of the person inflicting the pain. The Central Intelligence Agency of the US is known for its torture methods, or “enhanced interrogation techniques.” These various torture methods have led to a lot of backlash from the public and added resistance from the opposing organizations. Legally, Torture, done by Americans, has been banned under various acts. However, with a new, pro-torture administration in The White House, reinstatement of torture may take place. By observing and analyzing the groups that will be affected, Reinstatement of torture will be a detrimental decision that will negatively affect
This research paper talks about the controversy of torture in America. Torture is defined as a punishment of severe and intentional pain, either mentally or physically, inflicted on a person, particularly to receive information from him or her (“Defining Torture”). Starting around 530 A.D., the Romans started using torture as a tactic to get statements from people that they claimed they could not get any other way. For the same reason, the French and Italians adopted using torture around the twelfth-century; however, they began to inflict torture on people because their law system required that they must have a confession from the suspect or witnesses in order to punish the person (Green). America adopted similar practices such as the French and Italians did, but the United States government claims that torture has only been used as a way to keep America safe from
The history of torture in Europe may seem at first to be a steady progression of barbarous tactics, leading from one social purge to the next, but this is not completely the case. Torture has been used in a progression from primitive methods to the present more modern styles. It has also developed extensively, both in severity and variety of methods used. But in the end, torture has gone full circle; modern forms of torture are more like those methods used by savages than anything in between. Overall, the severity of torture has fluctuated, growing and receding with the passing of each new time period, but eventually reverting to its original state.