Torture

The article “The Torture Debate: The Missing Voices”, published in the editorial of The New York Times on May 6, 2009, criticizes the torture methods for prisoners that President Bush authorized during his administration. To understand this better, it is necessary to define the term torture. According to the article one of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, torture means, “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.” Is torture a good method used to get information? Is it ethical that former President Bush has authorized this kind of methods? In my opinion, the answers to both questions are NOT. Torture should not be applied for two reasons: it violates human rights and it can generate false information.

First of all, torture is a violation to human rights. It violates the fifth article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which says, “No one shall be subject to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” Although the human rights standards were created to protect people from abuse from others, they are not being accomplished at all. Today, many people are being victim of torture, especially prisoners who are defenseless and who are under control of government. The article “Terror Suspect Treatment” published by the BBC mentions the most common methods for torture such as sleep deprivation, wearing a hood, exposure to noise, threaten to shoot, exposure to hot/cold, no food or water, punching / kicking, make person go naked, hold under water, threaten relatives, use electric shocks and sexually humiliate. All of these horrible acts are seen as part of the interrogation techniques to get information. But are these techniques a good way to get information? This question is answered in the next paragraph.

The second reason against torture is that it can provide false information. Torture should not be practiced today as it was mentioned before, it violates the human rights. Although it is very clear that nobody, with no exceptions, should use torture, today, it is very common method especially applied in interrogatories processes by terrorists, guerrillas, drug dealer, and even by governments such as the United States. Torture techniques are often used in interrogatories processes in order to get relevant information. However, the quality of the information obtained by these methods can be questionable because a person who is being tortured can say anything in order to stop the pain. The article The Torture Debate: The Missing Voices” mentions that former President Bush authorized to torture prisoners with methods such as waterboarding in order to interrogate them. Also, the article criticizes the declaration made by Ms. Condolezza Rice when she said that torture methods like waterboarding are legal. According to the article, she said, “By definition, if it was authorized by the president, it did not violate our obligations under the Convention Against Torture.” Ms. Rice’s declaration is contradictory. She is accepting that the U.S. government was torturing prisoners –which violates the human rights—but at the same time, she says that it was legal because it was authorized by the president. It is unethical that a country violates the international human right standards. Government is supposed to protect its people, and respect people’s rights.

In conclusion, torture methods are a violation of human rights. They should not apply under any reason, even for interrogatories activities. Through torture, the torturer just will get from the victim false information, which is told in order to stop the pain. Instead of governments torturing prisoners, they should find other ways to encourage prisoners to collaborate by giving relevant information such as offering prisoners reduction of sentence.