(2) human rights/torture (class 7) & post-9/11 use of force (class 14) (25 points) (a) Is the “necessity defense” a permissible defense to torture? Is “official position” (that is, a person’s official position with the state) an excuse for conducting torture? Should either be? Explain why or why not.
Neither the “necessity defense” nor a person’s “official position” within a state are a permissible defense for torture in international law. All relevant international agreements and case law agree.
Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 similarly says that “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment…” (DRW, p. 411) There is no exception to Article 5 in the Declaration
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There is not (as shown above) nor should there be any exception to the prohibition on torture. If there was an exception for either “necessity” or “official position” for torture, nations around the world could claim necessity in any conceivable circumstance, and the leaders of those nations could order torture whenever convenient, with no legal implications. Relaxing the total prohibition on “torture, cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment” would completely undermine the prohibition, essentially permitting the use of torture whenever countries saw fit to use it.
(b) Is the following sound legal advice and/or consistent with international
425 (quoting 7/1/02 memorandum from Assistant Attorney General Jay Bybee to White House Counsel Alberto Gonzalez). Explain why or why not.
Alberto Gonzales’ definition of torture above is neither sound legal advice nor consistent with international standards. First of all, whether the actions above (or anything short) constitute “torture” is almost irrelevant, since all the international agreements, treaties, legal decisions, etc. above not only prohibit torture with no derogations, but also cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment. So even if the treatment of post-9/11 prisoners does not reach the level of “torture” or the contorted definition that Gonzales lays out, abusive treatment is not allowed at all.
But if we parse the definition of torture that Gonzales offers, it is clear that it does not conform to international standards of definition. The Convention Against Torture (CAT) says that “torture” “means any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person” for a variety of purposes. (DRW, p. 413) While this definition is in fact vague, on its face, Gonzales’ definition of torture requires far more severity to reach the level of “torture” than what is intended in the
In order to assess the morality of torture, one needs to define it. According to the Tokyo Declaration of 1975 torture is “the deliberate, systematic, or wanton infliction of physical or mental suffering by one or more persons acting alone or on the orders of any authority, to force another person to yield information, to make a confession or for any other reason.” This definition’s generality severely limits harmless interrogations by police. The United Nations changed the definition to include severe physical suffering, deliberate intentions, and also added that the action cannot be part of a lawful sanction. The US later revised the definition “to include only the most extreme pain” in 200...
Interrogational torture is one of the many tough ethical questions that people debate about in the United States. Is it right or is it wrong? Many believe that the United States does not practice intense interrogational acts such as torture. Many people have fought to abolish any form of torture while many fight to keep some forms of it to help keep the peace. Whether you believe in it or not, torture is and will always be an ethical dilemma that comes up.
Torture, as defined by the Oxford dictionary is the action of forcing a person to expose something through pain and suffering (“Definition of Torture in English”, 1). It has been a very effective means of extracting information. The practice of torture was originally used on slaves to increase productivity. It later proved to be an efficient approach to force individuals to disclose information. Many civilizations have used this practice throughout history, each with their own unique way. The Greeks used a technique known as the brazen bull. This approach consisted of a victim to be placed in an iron bull and steamed alive (Blinderman, 1). A very gruesome and agonizing approach but widely accepted at the time because it delivered results. Torture, though a controversial topic today, should be acceptable, because firstly, it can lead to the gathering crucial intelligence, secondly, it is a quick approach to gain said information, and finally, it is can be sanctioned in an ethical aspect.
Is the intentional pain that an individual experiences justified if there is the potential to save the lives of many? Torture is the most used weapon in the “war against terrorism” but does it work? The purpose of this essay is to identify what the motives for torturing are, the effectiveness of torture, and important issues with the whole process of torture.
Torture may be an inhumane way to get the information needed to keep the citizens of the United States safe from the attacks that are threatened against them, but there is rarely a course of action that will ensure the safety of a nation’s citizens that doesn’t compromise the safety of another group of people. Nevertheless, we must conserve as much humanity as possible by looking at the situation we are in and ensure that we are approaching the torture in an ethical manner. Although torture is valid on moral grounds, there are many who oppose it, such as Jamie Mayerfeld as he states in his 2009 article “In Defense of the Absolute Prohibition of Torture”.
As Shunzo Majima describes it: “According to Kantian deontology, torture cannot be morally justified if an individual’s humanity and dignity are denied through torture and the torture victim is used merely as a means for achieving the purpose of torture” (Majima, 2012, p. 138). Because of the way torture gravely violates a person’s autonomy and treats them only as a means of getting information or for some other end, it is considered inherently wrong in the eyes of deontology. People who are tortured are no longer seen as human or respected as one; instead, they are seen only as tools that can be manipulated and used in order to achieve a certain result. This, to deontology, is morally
In addition, there is no way to enforce the treaty in states, even if they have ratified it. Which makes it hard to make any progress on reducing the use of torture, fortunately, there may be some headway in the future in the form of the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture. The Optional protocol would allow monitored visits to states to ensure that no cases of torture were occurring. The purpose of this paper is to research the Convention Against Torture and how why states decide to accept the convention. We will also look at the enforceability of the Convention Against Torture and what the future for it may possibly
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain or suffering, mental or physical, on an individual to obtain information, to intimidate or for punishment. Torture is expressed in many ways, for example, rape, hard labour, electric shock, severe beatings, etc, and for this reason it is considered as cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment. Therefore, it is a violation of human rights and is strictly prohibited by international law. Michael Davis and many other individuals have stated that torture is worse than murder. He claims, “Both torture and premature death are very great evils but, if one is a greater evil than the other, it is certainly torture”. With that being said, there are three major reasons to discuss, in which, torture is not morally acceptable. However, in many cases it is considered very beneficial, but the disadvantages outweighs the benefits. Firstly, bullying is a form of torture but to a lesser extent, in which it results in an individual suffering from low self-esteem, suicidal thoughts, self-harm, etc. In addition, torture is mainly used as a means to obtain information, however, it is an ineffective interrogation tool in which, the data given could be falsified. Lastly, torture is sometimes utilized to shatter the autonomy of individual, that is, the right to their freedom and independence, forcing the victim to succumb to the torturer’s way of thinking.
Torture is the act of inflicting severe physical or psychological pain, and/or injury to a person (or animal) usually to one who is physically restrained and is unable to defend against what is being done to them. It has ancient origins and still continues today. The torture debate is a controversial subject to modern society. Because it is such a complex subject, many debatable issues come from it. For example, many have debated whether torture is effective in obtaining the truth, affects the torturers, threatens the international standing of the United States, or undermines justice. Others include what qualifies as torture, or whether or not the United States should set an example by not torturing. The two opposing claims to this topic would be: (a) that torture should always be illegal because it is immoral and cruel and goes against the international treaties signed by the U.S. and torture and inhuman treatment, and (b) yes, torture is acceptable when needed. Why not do to terrorists what they are so good at doing to so many others?
“No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment” (UDHR 15). Since the UDHR was created after the holocaust, this article that basically shows no
Cesare Beccaria discusses the issue of torture in his work An Essay on Crimes and Punishments. He states that either a crime is certain or uncertain, and in either circumstance, torture is not a legitimate punishment (Beccaria 530). When a crime has certainly been committed and already has a punishment assigned to it by law, it is useless to torture because you do not need to torture the convicted person to get a confession. If the proof is insufficient to convict the person in question of committing the crime, “it is wrong to torture an innocent person, such as the law adjudges him to be, whose crimes are not yet proved” (Beccaria 530). Torture, therefore, is not acceptable in any case of punishment and should not be used.
These prove the immorality of torture because; it is illegal word wide with rational and moral reasons, accepted that it can work against a country that uses it and, righteously is a transcendental truth beyond humans. There cannot be any exception to the rule whether in wartime, political instability, fighting terrorism or even to defuse a nation full of skepticism towards terrorist factions. Once an exception is made, especially by a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (U.S.), there is no way to logically bring justice to those who use torture in future situations. It would bring about the illogical and childish influence of the “do as I say, not as I do” motto. Torture should be condemned by every country and punish those accordingly who do not abide by these superior human dignity rights.
“International norms in this array of treaties and customary international law impose ranges of obligations on states. For instance, states must not only refrain from using torture, they must also take strong positive measures to prevent and punish torture” (McKay, 2005, pg.1037). If we have the right to be free from torture in here in America we believe that we as Americans shall not be tortured by anyone else in any other country even if it is in a time of war. We believe that people that are in the custody of the American’s shall have the same basic rights that we give our citizens. This means that someone that is a person of high interest or value they shall not be tortured for the simple fact that they may have information that is being looked for. For the longest time torture is something that all nations view as wrong no matter what is going on. Most nations also want what is right for most people and most nations do now want people to be tortured. This means that all nations need to come together and figure out how they feel about torture and work together to make sure that this form of punishment is not being carried out. Everyone has to be onboard for torture to stop
Around the world and around the clock, human rights violations seem to never cease. In particular, torture violations are still rampant all over the world. One regime, the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, establishes a strong elaboration of norms against torture. Despite its efforts, many countries still outright reject its policies against torture while other countries openly accept them, but surreptitiously still violate them. The US, Israel, and Saudi Arabia all have failed to end torture despite accepting the provisions of the Convention.
From a moral standpoint, torture is wrong and unacceptable. Many religious people are against this act of violence because they see it as a violation of the dignity of a human being. Humans have the right to not have intentional harm upon themselves from others. The ban on torture furthermore supports this certain right. Not only does torture violate people’s rights, but they also violate the demands of justice. In the past, many of our nation’s people have been tortured and we have had a problem with it; but when it’s not you the one that is being tortured, it seems to be fine. Have you heard of the golden rule, “Treat others only as you consent to being treated in the same situation? (7)” This applies very well to this problem.