Human Torture Should Not be Continued

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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.

In his article, When Is Torture Legal, Josh Clark discusses the convention on torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment held by the United Nations in 1984. This convention resulted in an international treaty signed by 74 countries, including the United States, which strictly forbids the act of torture as well as outsourcing torture to other countries where such methods are legal. There are no exceptional circumstances whatsoever which can be used as a justification for torture (Clark para. 4). Torture has been used through history as a means of interrogation, punishment, and coercion. While certainly a step in the right direction, the 1984 prohibition on torture has been violated repeatedly, both within the United States as well as in other countries.

Maureen Ramsay describes once such violation in her article “Can the Torture of Terrorist Suspects be Justified?” United States agents at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan used interrogation techniques that they termed ‘torture lite’. Prisoners were kept standing or kneeling for long periods with their arms chained...

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...ghraib.html?scp=2>.

Mazzetti, Mark and Scott Shane. “Interrogation Memos Detail Harsh Tactics by the C.I.A.” The New York Times – Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. 16 Apr. 2009. Web. 09 Apr. 2011. .

"No Torture. No Exceptions." The Washington Monthly. Jan-Feb 2008. Web. 06 Apr. 2011. .

Ramsay, Maureen. "Can the Torture of Terrorist Suspects Be Justified?" International Journal of Human Rights 10.2 (2006): 103-119. EBSCO. Web. 24 Mar. 2011.

“Yes, It Was Torture, and Illegal.” The New York Times – Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. 14 Mar. 2011. Web. 31 Mar. 2011. < http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/04/opinion/04mon1.html?scp=1&sq=Yes,%20It%20Was%20Torture,%20and%20Illegal%20&st=cse>.

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