Torture Is Inhumane Research Paper

Is Using Torture On Terrorists A Moral and Valid Way To Gain Information? John Stuart Mill once said, “Bad men need nothing more to encompass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing”. Unfortunately, that is exactly what is happening in America today. Hundreds of terrorists are tortured every day. Some say that because of terrorists’ actions, they “deserve” their abuse. Victims of terrorist crimes, such as 9/11, are often the biggest supporters of terrorist abuse. However, torture is an inhumane and ineffective means of gaining information, because the methods are deplorable, the information gleaned is usually wrong, and the practice is against several laws. Anyone who knows even the slightest inkling about torture cannot argue that it is a humane practice. At the infamous Abu Gharaib prison in Guantanamo Bay, detainees lived in horrible conditions. Prisoners were “ridden like animals, fondled by female soldiers, and forced to

In the UN Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhumane, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which was ratified by the United States, torture is specifically outlawed. It clearly states in article four, paragraph one that “all acts of torture are offenses under criminal law” (2). This law is not optional, although the United States military and government have been treating it as such. Mitch Frank agrees. He says that “most experts agree that the convention against torture makes it pretty clear that you can’t put prisoners through any physical or mental stress in interrogation. Most people would agree that waterboarding constitutes as physical and mental stress. Another law, the Geneva Convention, again forbids torture. The Geneva Conventions explicitly prohibit “’cruel treatment and torture’” and “’outrages upon personal dignity’” (Head 32). Yet we, as Americans, have turned a blind eye to these obvious crimes against humanity. The laws against torture must be