Pros And Cons Of Torture

Intro:

In today’s society there are many issues surrounding the topic of torture. There are two sides to this argument. One side would be that torture should never be used, the other side would be that torture should be used if it is absolutely necessary. Many times when torture is used it is used to get information out of an individual. On many occasions people hear of torture being used on terrorists that have been captured. Torture is also used on Soldiers that have been captured during war. During times of war torture is often used by both sides to gain an advantage over the other side. The use of torture is a widely debated topic in today’s world.

Torture is one of the most common interrogation methods in many war torn countries. These countries include many middle eastern countries that are in turmoil. Torture however is used in many developed nations as

well. A common example of a developed nation using torture would be North Korea. This communist country is notorious for its mistreatment of it’s citizens. North Korea developed a very intricate version of mental torture. The communist state sends prisoner to a prison that is known as the white prison. In this prison everything is white. The walls in the prison are all painted white. The prisoners and the guards both wear white uniforms. The guards also never speak making the prison eerily silent. This form of torture causes prisoners to go insane because of the lack of color and noise.

There are many different forms of torture that are used.

There is both mental and physical forms of torture. An example of physical torture would be beating a prisoner. This is physical because it inflicts pain on a particular individual. A form of mental torture would be using sounds such as a baby crying. This causes psychological trauma for the prisoner. Physical torture is the most common form of torture because it is the most readily available form. All that is required for physical torture is a person’s fists. Mental torture is less common. It is not as common because it requires much more planning and coordination. Mental torture usually requires specially designed rooms to be effective. An example of mental torture that requires special equipment is Chinese water torture. In this form of torture a person is strapped to a chair. They then put on a special mask that holds their head back exposing their forehead. Cold water then drips onto their exposed forehead every few seconds. The feeling this creates causes the prisoner to go crazy. They will usually give up any information to make the torture

stop.

Background
Torture can be used to get the most truthful answers. The Romans used to say “The highest form of truth”. The Roman’s believed that torture was the most effective way to get the truth. The truth is very important to the person who needs the information. There is just one problem with the use of torture. All though it can produce the desired result of truthfulness. The use of torture can also produce the exact opposite result. Some people who are being tortured would do anything to make the pain stop. In this case they might lie. This could cause problems, especially if the information is going to be used to save lives. The use of torture can be both good and bad. It can be good because the information needed could be provided. It however can be bad because of the fact that it is considered inhumane. It can also be terrible because the desired result may not be produced. Not to mention the fact that the use of torture is against the United Nations universal declaration of human rights.

Analysis:
Against
The first side to the argument of the use of torture would be that it should not be used. Many people who hold this opinion believe it should not be used because they believe it is not humane. This viewpoint is also very valid. Many people who hold this viewpoint believe that no one should ever be tortured no matter the circumstances.
Torture is argued to be inhumane. Many people disagree with the use of torture because they themselves would never want to be tortured. This is a very valid viewpoint because no normal person would ever want to be tortured. Another group of people that don't want torture to be used is people that already have been tortured. People around the world, like in kenya, were tortured and know the experience. They know how horrifying it is and how many physical and mental scars it leaves behind. They also know how much of a burden it can be to the family members of the individual. It is a burden to the family because the tortured individual is in such bad shape that they need constant supervision so nothing bad happens to them.
Another reason that people are against torture is most people don't know when to stop and are ignorant. The people that are conducting the torture are looking for certain answers and information but if the individual doesn't know anything about it they torturer will keep going.This can lead to the victim just saying false or random information just to make the torturing stop. This is even worse for the victims because if they torturer finds out this will most likely lead to a more severe form of torture which can even lead to death.
Lastly it can lead to an institution gettin bad rep and maybe getting shut down. For example guantanamo bay. Guantanamo bay has a bad reputation for force feeding and waterboarding its prisoners. When people found out about this they were enraged, it was a very bad time for the prison. It was protested so bad that in 2009 Barack Obama officially closed guantanamo bay and is still closed to this date.

For
The other side to this argument would be that torture is acceptable only if the circumstances require it’s use. This argument would be used to justify the use of torture to get information from a high value target. High value targets include terrorists and criminal who have information that a particular party uses. Torture would commonly be used to get information such as locations of other terrorists.
People who usually agree with the use of torture are usually people with a position of power. This is usually the case because their position makes them responsible for the protection of the public. These people tend to be fine with the use of torture as long as it benefits the general public. The public need to be protected. This is used to justify the use of torture. They believe that harming one person is worth it if they can protect innocent people from harm. The general public must be protected from outside threats because they do not generally have access to information that they would need to protect themselves. For example torture would be used to stop a terrorist attack. The government can not inform the public of a pending terrorist attack because it would cause mass panic. When people panic they get violent causing even more people to get hurt. This causes the terrorist attack to have to be stopped before it can take place. The use of torture can get the most truthful answer to when and where the attack will take place. This would greatly increase the chances of the attack being stopped and save the most lives possible.

Conclusion:
The topic of is torture ever acceptable is going to go on for years to come. Now that elections are coming near politicians will be taking a side, and most of them already have. This can lead to the US being separated into two groups which is never good. Hopefully people will come to their senses and see that torture is inhumane and should never be used under ANY circumstances.