...Torture is the act of deliberately inflicting severe physical or psychological pain and possibly injury to an organism, usually to one who is physically restrained or otherwise under the torturer's control or custody and unable to defend against what is being done to him or her. 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 even longer. Reasons for torture can include punishment, revenge, political re-education, deterrence, interrogation or coercion of the victim or a third party, or simply the sadistic gratification of those carrying out or observing the torture. The need to torture another is thought to be the result of internal psychological pressure in the psyche of the torturer. The torturer may or may not intend to kill or injure the victim, but sometimes torture is deliberately fatal and...
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...Kenny Anderson Political Science Prof. Hawn 10 October 2012 Government and Torture Means of torture have been used around the world for a number of years. At one point in time it had been terminated in the United States; however, after the events of September 11, 2001, it has come back as an acceptable way to acquire information from terrorists. Torture is, according to the United Nation Convention Against Torture in 1984: “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. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in, or incidental to, lawful sanctions.” (OHCHR) This definition, regardless of any country's own rules, regulations and laws is obligatory to be carried out by all the countries. When someone is accused of being a culprit of torture, there are various credentials, which are modified to wartime situations when needed. In general to be a culprit, one must bring severe physical, mental pain or suffering upon the victim. In most scenarios...
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...Among many widespread concerns about torture, one is what exactly defines it, and what specific acts are included. While Bagaric does not mention this in his argument, it is a main concern to Johnson throughout his article. Johnson describes torture as “a form of terrorism…The object of all such physical and mental torment is singularly clear: to terrify prisoners so they will yield information.” (26) Later in his article, Johnson quotes the definition of torture as defined by the U.S. Justice Department, and reads as follows: “‘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.’” (27) An article in the February...
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...Torturing Terrorist The word torture makes teeth cringe with images of a person tied down to a chair with ruptured lips, bruised face, in a room full of people taking turns in “beating the truth” out of them. Torturers have an illusion of finding the “truth” through creative forms of inflicting agonizing pain on a terrorist. During times of crisis this technique can be tempting to practice. The ticking time bomb scenario is always a form in an attempt to justify torture (Smith). These methods can cause a negative impact in communities in our nation. Torture should not be an option. Torture is defined as: the act of inflicting excruciating pain, as punishment or revenge, as a means of getting a confession or information, or for sheer cruelty (Dictionary.com). In human nature every being is wired to survive. The primal instinct takes over a person when they are being tortured and know that they are in a life or death situation. Regardless if they know anything about what the interrogators want to know, they will say anything to keep themselves from being tortured. Excruciating pain is not the only way of obtaining information because torture has two forms that could be either physical or psychological (law.harvard.edu). There have been data-based attempts to probe the definition of torture. In a sophisticated empirical study of 432 torture survivors, Metin Basoglu (2009) analyzed the psychological meaning of 46 torture techniques. Statistical analyses revealed...
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...Torture and Ethics Paper Alfreepha Williams AJS/532 July 21, 2013 Patricia DeAngelis Torture and Ethics There are many views or definition of the word “torture”, which is often debated by many individuals. According to “International Rehabilitation Council For Torture Victims” (2005-2012), “torture is an act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining information or a confession, punishing him for an act committed” (para. 2). “Torture is anguish of body or mind; something that causes agony or pain; the infliction of intense pain (from burning, crushing, or wounding) to punish, coerce, or afford sadistic pleasure; or distortion or over refinement of a meaning or an argument” (“Torture,” 2013). There are debates about torture and whether or not is unethical or a cruel and unusual punishment. People have been taught to believe that torturing a person is unacceptable and inhumane. However, the torturing of an enemy to get answers is not considered cruel and inhumane especially, when it involves saving the lives of many. This paper will analyze whether torturing enemy combatants or high-value targets violates standards of morality in an American free society. It will also examine whether the act of torture violates basic human rights and if it could have global implications, and last determine if torture may be justified under ontological, deontological, utilitarianism, or the natural...
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...Essay #5 In Michael Levin’s essay “The Case for Torture,” he states that most view torture as unacceptable and is rejected by our society. Levin also says that in some circumstances torture is not only necessary but also morally compelling. He recognizes that torture is unlawful but that does not matter when millions of lives may be at stake. He believes it’s a lot worse to let millions of innocents die then to just torture one guilty terrorist. Levin also makes clear that torture should not be used to punish. Levin notes the difference between the terrorist and its victim: The victim is unwillingly risking his or her life as opposed to the terrorist he or she is risking his or her life voluntarily which implies that he or she is giving up rights by committing such action. Levin also says that doing nothing to stop evil is the biggest issue. After reviewing Levin’s essay carefully I feel he does not have enough convincing information. The scenarios he uses as examples are not likely to happen in real life so he doesn’t have much credibility. Torture is defined as the intentional infliction of severe mental or physical pain or suffering by or with the consent of the state authorities for a specific purpose. Torture is often used to punish, to obtain information or a confession, to take revenge on a person or persons or create terror and fear. Some of the most common methods of physical torture include beating, electric shocks, stretching, submersion or waterboarding...
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...Throughout time, torture has been used to extract important information from people who are unwilling to give it. Some argue that it is a necessary, justified and effective way of forcing someone to release vital information they may not have wanted to, while others argue it is unjustified, unnecessary, violent and inhumane. Governments sometimes characterise torture as an indispensable interrogation tool for gathering strategic intelligence. However as highlighted by countless historical figures such as Napoleon Bonaparte and Greek philosopher Aristotle, torture is almost always pointless because most people, if put in sufficient pain, will say absolutely anything to stop it (Scott, 1995). Therefore this essay sets out to argue that torture...
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...by a specific lifestyle imposes certain conditions on humans. In this paper, I will be tackling the topic of torture and how modern civilizations cannot cope with such an idea so disastrous and humiliating to mankind. Justifying the act of torture cannot resemble but an annoying image of humanity. In what’s below, I will argue with and against the practice of torture and will come to a conclusion that no matter what, torture will always reflect negatively on the society as the only way of justifying it is through perfect knowledge of the consequences that no one knows but God. I also considered the scenario of ticket- time bomb because it is considered to be the heaviest argument that justifies torture. So, let’s see how torture isn’t justified. One night, I went into my house and saw a man, on TV, beating a defenceless tied person. The man was actually beating the guy and enjoying the extreme pain he’s suffering from. He even cut the guy’s feet with a butcher’s knife. My whole family was watching the movie. My dad seemed to enjoy the movie. My brother was just shouting for the man and encouraging him to beat the guy further. My mom had no reaction towards what’s happening. And still my sister who looked really annoyed and demanded to change the channel over and over. This gives rise to the question of whether torture should be accepted or not. And does accepting torture imply that it is justified? The movie, called “Hostel”, turned out to be talking about a group of Man hunters...
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...Perspectives on Torture and the War on Terrorism An evaluation on Several Arguments Tonia Jenkins Critical Thinking and Problem Solving Snelgrove June 13, 2012 Michael Yoo used several definitions from several different places to define torture in his argument. The first definition is the one he used when he defined torture as the following: 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. The other definition he uses it used to show what the government defines torture as. This definition is as follows: The United States understands that in order to constitute torture, an act must be specifically intended to inflict severe physical or mental pain or suffering and that mental pain or suffering refers to prolonged mental pain caused by or resulting from (1) the intentional infliction or threatened infliction of severe physical pain or suffering; (2) administration or application, or threatened administration of application, of mind altering substances or other procedures calculated to disrupt profoundly the senses or the personality; (3) the threat of imminent death; (4) the threat that another person will imminently be subjected to death, severe physical pain or suffering, or the administration or application of mind-altering substances or other procedures calculated...
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...Should Torture of Terrorist be Allowed? : Philosophical dilemma. In this discussion I will present the issue of why one should accept torture of terrorist as a morally permissible act. However, In order to understand much of the debate of this topic, it is important to understand the two common philosophical ways of thinking in this great discussion. On One hand there is the consequentialist view which states that moral acts are right and wrong in light to the circumstances and consequences of promoting a greater good; which in this case would involve torturing terrorist as a means to a greater good; thus, the phrase means-to-an-end (Encyclopedia of Philosophy). On the opposite side there is the non-consequentialist approach which involves one to act out pure duty; for instance, slavery would have still been wrong even if the...
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...PATIALA CUSTODIAL TORTURE: VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS SUPERVISED BY: SUBMITTED BY: Ms. Sangeeta Taak Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law Patiala (Punjab) PROJECT SUBMITTED IN THE PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF REQUIREMENTS OF THE SUBJECT OF CRIMINAL LAW FOR EIGHTH SEMESTER, B.A.LL.B (HONS.) COURSE SURBHI MEHTA Assistant Professor of Law (Roll No. 581) TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1 1.1. Objectives 2 1.2. Research Methodology 2 1.3. Hypothesis 2 1.4. Definitions 3 1.4.1. Police 3 1.4.2. Torture 4 CHAPTER 2: HISTORICAL BACKGROUND 6 CHAPTER 3: CUSTODIAL TORTURE AND RELATED DIMENSIONS 10 3.1. Categories 10 3.1.1. Physical torture 10 3.1.2. Custodial Death 12 3.1.3. Custodial Rape 13 3.2. Causes 14 3.2.1. Structural 14 3.2.2. Other Causes 15 3.3. Consequences 16 3.3.1. Physical Consequences 16 3.3.2. Psychological Consequences 16 3.3.3. Economic Consequences 16 3.3.4. Social Consequences 16 CHAPTER 4: LEGISLATIVE PROVISIONS 17 4.1. The Constitution of India, 1950 17 4.2. The Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 18 4.3. Indian Evidence Act, 1872 19 4.4. Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 20 4.4.1. The National Human Rights Commission 20 CHAPTER 5: JUDICIAL PRONOUNCEMENTS 22 5.1. Monetary Compensation and Judicial Response 25 5.2. Judgements Awarding Compensation 27 5.3. Judgments Awarding Punishment 28 CHAPTER 6: INTERNATIONAL PROTECTION AGAINST TORTURE 29 6.1. Major International...
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...Understanding the World after 9-11 Even though we still have Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp there are those who feel that we should close it down and stop the torture for example degrading the person lack of sleep or lack of food and even though it was effective at times to get information out of prisoners by using such techniques though after September 11, 2001 and the media getting pictures of how we was treating these prisoners we had to change, some to the good others are not so good because a prisoner may tell you what you want to hear and it may not be the truth. Then there is still the public inquiring about the prisoners where would we have to transfer them? This scares those who live near a prison, many are terrorist so what should we do? Clean up and make Alcatraz Island also known as the Rock and put them there? From what we have learned that place is no better. Until there is peace throughout all the lands and countries there will and must be safeguards not just for us but for those who are suicide bombers and other terrorist. When someone threatened U.S. interests and safety, the government started thinking up ways to protect the citizens of our beautiful country. This is where the USA Patriot Act came from. The USA Patriot Act was signed into law by former President George W. Bush on October 26, 2001, just a little over a month after the attacks. It is an acronym that stands for, Uniting (and) Strengthening America (by) Providing Appropriate Tools Required...
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...Torture Despite the strong commitments of the US legal system of torture, ever since 9/11, torture became an acceptable tool to be used. The practice of torture is difficult to address because there is not a concrete definition of what torture is. Thinking torture can be justified is not the same as thinking it is necessary. A survey posted by The Huffington Post, concluded that respondents were more uncertain about whether information gained through torturing suspected terrorists is generally reliable or unreliable. The survey also found significant uncertainty over whether the U.S. had used torture to track down Big Laden, as the new movie “Zero Dark Thirty” portrays. As defined by dictionary.com, “torture is the act of inflicting excruciating pain, as punishment or revenge, as a means of getting a confession or information, or for sheer cruelty.” However, there are many other definitions. Defined by the United Nations Convention Against Torture, torture is an act where intentional pain is inflicted on a purpose. According to the Third Geneva Convention, torture is known to cause no “no physical or mental torture, nor any other form of coercion, may be inflicted on prisoners of war to secure from them information of any kind whatever”. Who draws the line as to which specific practices are harsh enough to correspond to those words? Some have suggested that torture is worse than killing, and that torturing the innocent is morally worse than murder. The most prevalent forms...
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...ethics and torture 544 3/14/2016 Melba V. Pearson The paper of ethics and torture The following of September 11 tortures has become the method use, within the United States policy from former President Georgia W. Bush within the highest stages of the American government. During 9/11 former President Bush signed a document that would give the CIA the control, to capture kill also interrogate terrorist leaders and group member of that outfit as well. It even gave the CIA the authority to obtain private locations around, the world to capture also interrogate the terrorism with the human right being taken away from them within theses private areas they used. Then former president as well develop and top property lines, of high valued names of terrorist. This government agency granted the right to detain, interrogate also kill the terrorist that was not on the high-value list. Many people within a society have different definitions of torture. However, torture is a person that intentionally physically harms a defenseless, also not consenting individual severely. The considerable deliberate curtailment, with the exercises of a person self-sufficiency, obtain by any means necessary commonly to assume the reason for breaking the will of the not consenting individual. Also in this paper, we will talk about terrorism. Torture look at both sides in favor and not in the use of torture it evaluates each side ethically (Jeremy Diamond, 2014). In the practice of torture is used...
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...Is Torture Ever Acceptable? According to dictionary.com, the definition of torture is. “The act of inflicting excruciating pains, as punishment or revenge, as a means of getting a confession or information”. Torture has been here for a long time and people have gotten good and bad results from it. The debate centers around whether or not this act is humane and if it is worth the violation of civil rights that belong to every person in a civilized society. If we continue to use barbaric methods only to receive a mixed bag of results, is the implementation worth the abuse of fellow human beings? My goal is to prove that my research has found that torture is unacceptable in all cases. Torture is never justified because there are many reasons...
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