Torture, Inhumane Or Degrading Treatment

Torture is unacceptable, as all human beings have their rights, and there are other modern ways of punishment and ways to get information from people. Many claim that torture can be justified because it comes down to the safety of the people. They believe that torturing someone in order to gain information that could potentially save lives is acceptable or even reasonable, however this is not the case. “The torture is being done on an individual for no purpose but perhaps a level of sadism on the part of the captor.” Despite what we may be told, there is little if anything to be gained by the process. It is illegal to use torture in any situation whatsoever. Torture is morally wrong, even if torture had the potential to save

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

Torture is not a new ethical dilemma, because torture has been practiced throughout human history and in different cultures. Now, however, the Geneva Convention and other modern norms suggest that human beings should not resort to using torture. Torture is becoming taboo as a method of intelligence gathering, which is why the methods used during the Iraq war were decried. However, the ethical case can be made for torture. If torturing one human being leads to information that could save the lives of a thousand, torture suddenly seems like a sensible method. This is a utilitarian perspective on torture, which many people find palatable. However, there are problems with this method of thinking about torture. The state-sanctioned use of torture creates a normative framework in which torture becomes acceptable. Torture sends the wrong message about what a free, open, and enlightened society should be. Even if torture is only acceptable in extreme circumstances, as with a suspect who might know something about an impending terrorist attack, who decides when and what type of torture should be used? There is too much potential for abuse of the moral loophole with regards to torture. If the United States hopes to be a role model, then torture cannot fit into its intelligence methods.

Automatically you will have the majority of the population against this idea. However when you add the intent behind the torture, which, in this case is to prevent acts of terrorism. The term “terrorism” is added to the equation, this term has an equally horrific image associated with it. This will have some people re-thinking their assumptions of torture under these specific circumstances.

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.

After the killing of Osama Bin Laden, former United States Vice President, Dick Cheney, proclaimed the CIA’s use of “enhanced interrogation techniques” such as waterboarding, against a terror suspect by the name of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed helped produce intelligence that led the CIA to Bin Laden. Cheney argued it was a good and legal program and that it was not torture. The use of EITs has sparked a debate in the public about the means of using torture in order to maintain security in the nation (Blakeley 544). The discussion about the use of torture in extreme situations has progressed since 2011 and remains a hot topic today. Torture has been used in many situations throughout history up to a recent past. It has been done both in secret and out in the open. Although many people are against torture in any situation, there are some people who justify the act of torture in extreme situations. The two sides show common ground in valuing human life and that torture is an extreme solution.

Many opinions have been historically perceived on modern debates about the moral principles of torture. Torture has been carried out or sanctioned by individuals, groups, and states throughout history from ancient times to modern day, and forms of torture can vary greatly in duration from only a few minutes to several days or longer. (Torture, 2016). Torture is the act of inflicting excruciating pain, as punishment or revenge, as means of getting a confession or information, or for sheer cruelty. (Torture, 2016). Now that we have an idea behind the meaning of torture, we need to know if it is ethical. Ethical can be described as fair, legitimate or moral. All and all, is torture the right thing to do? Let’s take a look at some of the reviews of those that are skilled professionals in discussing if it is just or permissible to use torture.

Torture has been practised for several centuries. Whether it was the Iron maiden or waterboarding, its goal, inducing pain on a certain victim, has stayed the same. Despite all of our social advancements, this heinous and barbaric act is continually defended and justified. Torture is a crime against all living things and should never be practised.

Sometimes torture is appropriate and necessary in certain situations. Whether or not people admit it, torture was one of the main reasons that WW2 came to an end. One of the reasons D-Day happened is because of the intelligence of man named Abwehr who had information about beaches in Normandy (history.com) Some people are

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.

There are very strong arguments that torture is a poor and unreliable vehicle for discovering truth, as the people being tortured are extremely likely to make anything up in order to stop the physical pain and can become unable to tell the difference between fact and fiction under extreme psychological distress. There is very little information or factual academic or medical research in favor of torture in the interrogation processes, and whether or not the information obtained using torture methods would ultimately prove to be valuable. There is a however a plethora of information regarding moral, constitutional and legal interrogation methods and specific guidelines for the interrogators to follow that have been in use for quite some time and have proved to be extremely beneficial. Numerous human rights organizations, professional and academic experts, and military and intelligence leaders have absolutely rejected the idea that torture is legal or an acceptable and reliable form of intelligence gathering.

There is an ongoing debate on whether torture should be used and if it is ever “ok”. There are many different points of view and both sides have very clear, convincing arguments on whether torture should be used as a way to obtain information. One side says that torture is not necessary even in extreme cases. The other side it should be used if it mandatory. Although these sound like a compromise they do have a few conflicting ideas. Even though both essays are trying to sway the reader to one side or another, it is the reader’s choice on how he or she feels on torture.

Most people may believe that torture would betray the laws set out clear by our founding fathers. But it isn’t. This fact may surprise you, but it's true. The constitution prohibits cruel and unusual punishments. And According to Antonin Scalia, a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States; ¨It unacceptable to torture someone after a lawful trial, but allowable to do it before or without one.” It may seem morally wrong, but it is logically sound.It is for you to decied, but when one of the proteceteres of our beloved consitution says it’s constituional then it is.

Using Torture as a useful interrogation tool for particularly heinous crimes like rape, child molestation, murders, etc. is okay because sometimes information is more important than morals, everybody learns from the situation, and they deserve it; especially if they’re proven guilty.

Torture is becoming a large issue of human rights. There is never a situation where crucifying an individual is seen as acceptable. When torture is used, it is almost as if we are sinking down to the enemy’s level of disrespect and foolishness. As citizens of the United States, we hold ourselves to standards of justice and equality, and torturing a victim breaches all of those policies. Senator John McCain puts it best while saying that “We are Americans, and we hold ourselves to humane standards of treatment of people-no matter how evil they may be”, as Americans, we must stay humane and stick by what our country stands for. The enemies that our nation faces “have no respect for human life or human rights. They don't deserve our sympathy”. These criminals that we are fighting against have no regards for these values, and disrespect