Argumentative Essay: Is Torture Justified?

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.

Can reliable information come from torture? Is torture an effective means of social control? Do the negative effects outweigh the potential benefits? Is the torturing of terror suspects legal? How is torture justified in the general public?

Modivation

The motivation to torture is guided by gut feelings and “what if” stories. Using torture to gain information involves a tremendous amount of assumptions. The Torturer is assuming that there is an actual danger, they are assuming that they have the correct person as well as assuming their level of their involvement and guilt in the situation, and lastly by using torture they are assuming that there is no alternative way to extract the information.

There is no way to be certain that you are

not destroying the life of an innocent person, leaving behind a trail of physical as well as psychological marks.
The United Nations Convention against Torture (UNCAT) defines torture as
'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, 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.
Although this definition is broad we can identify different motives such as using torture to extract information, as a form of punishment, to create a general fear within a group or community.
Using torture as a way to extract information may seem like the only method if you do not have the right interrogation skills, but how reliable is any information that is a result of torture? There are a few different responses that a victim might respond if an abuser is seeking information.
• The victim might fabricate as an attempt to stop the torture.
• The victim might provide truthful information.
• Or the victim may know the truth but provides false information as a distraction.
Janoff-Bulman points out that extreme coercion is likely to produce the desired effects. (Janoff-Bulman, 2007, 430) that is to say, if the victim of torture does not have the information that the abuser thinks they have, they might just say what they believe the abuser wants to hear even if they have no real knowledge.it may also be the case that lack of brain oxygen would as well be a cause of falsifying data (even if the victim did not intend to enclose any information whether it was real or false) In this type of scenario the end results would be negative on both ends. Not only will the victim have to cope with this event for the rest of their lives, the torturers (no matter how well intending they were) wasted valuable time and resources that could have been focused elsewhere.
Torture may sometimes lead to a reveal of accurate information, such as in the event that the correct person has been obtained.

However the level of skepticism would will be present because the torturer would have to spend valuable time determining if the information received is authentic or not.

Effectiveness

How is it justified?

According to a pool from the Washington post fifty nine percent of Americans think that torture is acceptable. So why is this? Maybe

Process of torture

There are a lot of disturbing aspects of torture, just thinking about the dehumanizing, disfiguring process is enough to make any normal persons stomach turn. However when I say there are disturbing aspects of torture I am referring to the process (or lack of). There is no protocol for torture. There are no trial, no rules, guidelines, or script that a torturer must follow. It is free

game.