Torture Essay

Why Torture Should Be Avoided
Torture: Why It Should Stop
Torture, the most extreme form of human violence, resulting in both physical and psychological
consequences. A technique of interrogation that has been proven time and time again to not only be
ineffective but also a waste of time. Studies have shown that not only does torture psychologically
damage the mind of the victim, but also can hurt the inflictor. If there is proof that torture is useless,
why do we still use it? Torture should not be used to get information out of prisoners because of the
risk of false information, enemy resistance and utter uselessness.
Tortured prisoners give false information. One writer writes "Many survivors of torture report that
they would have said anything to make the torture...show more content...
Also, People who would like to "leak" information about what they know, may feel scared to do so,
because of what they think might happen to them. This is why torturing ANYONE is not effective.
It complicates further operations and puts a strain on your relation. As one writer puts it "Winning
the "hearts and minds" of communities around the world is a key objective in combating violence
against civilians" ("Why Torture Makes Us less Safe"). However, that relationship doesn't work
when you torture civilians or people of interest because you think they know something! If people
are tortured and it is later found out that they are innocent, what type of country would we look like?
Or what happens when we accidentally kill someone with information during torture? Torture
messed up our relations with other countries, and makes further operations two times harder.
Last but not least, Torture is a slow gruesome process that causes the prisoner to shut down and
conjure up false memories.it is not as effective or glamou. As a former FBI agent says torture
techniques used by the Bush administration were ""ineffective, slow and unreliable" and caused the
prisoner to stop talking. ("EX–FBI Interrogator Torture "Ineffective"). Methods like sleep deprivation
take almost 180 hours to complete and certain situations that amount of time won't be available. In a
"tick tock" situation, you can't afford to waste 180 hours waiting
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Torture Research Paper
Torture has been practised for several centuries. Whether it was the Iron maiden or waterboarding,
its goal, inducing pain on a certain victim, has stayed the same. Despite all of our social
advancements, this heinous and barbaric act is continually defended and justified. Torture is a crime
against all living things and should never be practised.
Torture leaves psychological scars on the victim. These scars come when the tortured is faced with
the internal realization that they are causing their pain. This realization can force the victim to
"[embrace] the faith of their captors" in exchange for better treatment (Callimichi 2). The captors
could believe in something that the victim absolutely abhors, but because he is in such a dire
situation, he is willing to do whatever it takes to end his suffering. The scars also inhibit growth and
keep the victim from ever being able to move on. Even after the victim is in a safe place and away
from his tormentors, 'he will never again be at ease with the world'(VorbrГјggen and Baer 1). This
paranoia will lead the tortured to live a secluded live because the victim has had their faith in
humanity shattered (VorbrГјggen and Baer 1). Unfortunately, the...show more content...
It not only inflicts damage to the tortured, but also to torturer. The torturer becomes desensitized
and sees his actions as "a job" and "feels no guilt" (Wolfendale 9). This lack of empathy is not
caused by sadism, on the contrary, there is "no significant psychological difference" between a
torturer and a normal soldier (Wolfendale 4). This professional detachment is instead a barrier
formed by their psyche to stop them from being broken. The organization that tortures will also be
hurt. Because of the controversial nature of torture, the government will view their operations as
risky and "a subjective process" instead of viewing it as a basis of certifiable intelligence. Based on
this evidence, torture causes more harm than its potential

Is Torture Ever Acceptable? Essay
Torture is the process of inflicting pain upon other people in order to force them to say something
against their own will. The word "torture" comes from the Latin word "torquere," which means to
twist. Torture can not only be psychologically but mentally painful. Before the Enlightenment, it was
perfectly legal to torture individuals but nowadays, it is illegal to torture anyone under any
circumstances. In this essay, I will demonstrate why torture should never acceptable, not matter the
condition. From a moral standpoint, torture is wrong and unacceptable. Many religious people are
against this act of violence because they see it as a violation of the dignity of a human being.
Humans have the right to not have intentional harm upon...show more content...
The attacks of September 11 brought to attention the debate on torture. The scenario describes an
imaginary scene in which a enormous weapon was to unleash and a prisoner is known to have
information on the attack but won't say anything. The United States was faced with a question of
whether to torture the prisoner or allow millions of civilians to die. The reason that this scenario
doesn't back up the statement that torture is acceptable sometimes is that it seems to "perfect."
The conditions are too calculated to actually happen in real life. There are many factors that come
into play in situations like this that affect the outcome. It also doesn't seem as easy as to just
torture one person to save a thousand. The event of torturing doesn't end at that one time; the
United States is the most powerful country in the entire world. It sets an example for the rest of
the world. One person being tortured will lead to many more to be tortured. Let's pretend that
there is nothing wrong with torture and that is it not a controversial issue. What good is using
torture to obtain information? The use of torture is almost never effective. People that use this
process will only hear what they want to hear or the information might not be as reliable.
"Someone who is being tortured will happily say that grass is blue and the sky is green if he
believes it'll end the torture." Even if the information was to be reliable, it can be

Effects Of Torture
only a supporting role to the Police and Metropolitan Guards in the counterinsurgency, was ordered
into action. They relied on mass arrests, torture to allegedly gain info on Tupamaros, and large
cordon–and–search operations, where warrants weren't needed. This was done to those allegedly
accused of politically motivated crimes. The tortures consisted of: deprivation of water and food,
prohibition to take care of psychological needs in the usual places, wrenching of limbs, use of
handcuff and even having their heads submerged under water until they began to suffocate. The use
of electrical needles, burning genital organs and anus, with cigarettes, were other accounts of torture.
These brutalities had been practiced on innocent people who had yet to be tried in court....show more
content...
Many did not survive and went insane. Others told Weschler that they survived by dreaming.
Imagination was their only hope at staying alive and somewhat sane. A victim of these abuses,
Marcelo Vignar, describe his experience/imprisonment as terrifying. There was no telling how long
he'd be held for nor what to expect all because he allegedly gave medical assistance to a Tupamaro.
In 1976, Amnesty International calculated that Uruguay had more political prisoners per capita than
any other nation on earth (Wechsler 1990, 88). The incarceration rate illustrated how much control,
over civilian day to day life, the military held. Others were fired from their government jobs for
political reasons. This preventive repression strategy by the Uruguayan military regime was intense.
Although, saturation tactics captured most of the guerrillas and forced the remainder to flee the
country, approximately 10 percent of Uruguay's population emigrated for political or economic

Origin Of Torture
We can trace the origins of torture (and with it, it's ever–present ethical and logical debate) all the
way back to 530AD, which was when prestigious Roman jurists paved the road for this moral
argument, in stating that they believe the result of such torment was "the highest form of truth,"
and Demosthenes, a Greek legal orator, stood in solidarity with that idea, adding to it that, "no
statements made as a result of torture have ever been proved to be untrue" (Green). And then of
course, with these confident advocates, came critics as well. Aristotle recognized that, "those under
compulsion are as likely to give false evidence as true... while others are really ready to make false
charges against others in the hope of being sooner released

The Art Of Torture Essay
The Art of Torture
Going by the title of this paper you are probably asking yourself "How in
God's name can torture be seen as an art, were these people mentally ill?" well it was, but I talk about
that later, let me tell you a little about the history of torture. Torture has been around since the times
of Ancient Greece and is still around today, usually in the Mafia. Other than the mob, torture isn't
very common in our society. Punishments aren't near as harsh as they used to be back in medieval
times. The only punishments we have now are jails, the punishments there were in medieval times
were numerous and downright inhuman.
Torture would keep criminal from doing something wrong again, assuming he lived through the
...show more content...
From the 14th to 18th centuries in Europe, torture was a very common thing of the legal process of
a majority of the European countries and even the Roman Catholic church. The Roman Catholic
church used torture as a way of punishing heretics at the order of inquisitors. The Inquisition played
a big part in the world of torture. The inquisition was a church founded in medieval times that was
setup to find and prosecute heretics. The punishments for being a heretic were extreme punishments,
stuff you would cringe at thinking about, such as the vise. You might have seen this device on the
movie Casino. The victims head would be put in the vise and then the executioner would begin to
tighten a little screw at the top of the vice, causing the victims head to start to compress. This
technique was used a lot for getting people to confess.
The Inquisition was greatly defended during the middle ages. People saw it as okay, since it was a
religious thing. Father Saint Augustine perceived Luke
14:23; "So the master said to the servant, Go out to the country roads and lanes and make people
come in, so that my house will be full.", as biblical proof of endorsing the punishment of heret ics.
The Art of Torture:
Believe it or not, torture was considered an

Morals on Torture Essay
Morals on Torture Throughout modern history, morals is questioned when torture is involved.
Torture should be a black and white, yes or no question. It is acceptable to do an immoral act, as
long as the act itself is legal, to create a good outcome. In the case of Mr. Wolfgang Daschner, it does
not matter that it was uncertain whether using torture gets the required information. To threaten to
use torture is the same as actually torturing, both legally and morally. Should torture and the threat
of torture be morally and legally acceptable, then in all levels involving local, state and federal
systems should be able to use torture techniques. To commit an immoral act is not the same as
committing an illegal act. Actions could be legal...show more content...
Therefore, it does not matter that the threat of torture caused the police to get the information to
find the boy. To threaten to use torture is the same as actually torturing, both legally and morally.
Torture as defined under the United Nations Torture Convention of 1984 as: Any act by which
severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionallyinflicted 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. To threaten to use torture is to cause
suffering through mental intentions, therefore the threat is the same as actual performing torture.
Should torture and the threat of torture be morally and legally acceptable, then in all levels
involving local, state and federal systems should be able to use torture techniques. If something is
acceptable for one legal system, then all legal systems should be able to perform the same task. If
there is restrictions on which legal systems can use torture, then there would not be any checks and

Torture Essay
Ronald D. Cretlinsten contends that torturers acquire the ability to cope with the moral dilemmas of
inflicting pain upon and murdering their fellow humans primarily through the processes of
"routinization" and "dehumanization", and also through the notion of "authorization" (191). With
such as the case, an individual adept in the art of torture would necessarily have learned to be cruel,
however, that argument neglects the very reality that many engaged in such activities are
intrinsically perverse, and in fact willingly and happily do harm to others. The prevalence of torture
throughout the world can be accounted for in part by the process of "routinization" in which a
regime, in essence, desensitizes a given torturer to the atrocities...show more content...
. . comes a moment when you [no longer] feel [anything] about what you are doing" (191). The
"dehumanization" of one's victims does wonders to calm any qualms or misgivings an individual
may experience about injuring another man. By evoking fear in the torturer and therefore, a sense
of being threatened by a given enemy, the regime in power causes the torturer to feel obliged to
defend against such a threat. Consequently, he will torture his fellow man to procure some valued
piece of information and in doing so remove himself from a precarious position and subdue his
enemies all at once. Such enemies are viewed as evil and little more than monsters. A victim is
rarely referred to by his or her name or by any other humanizing characteristic, rather a victim is most
often referred to as some base, nonhuman creature or beast. The notion of "authorization" as
permitting the existence of torture is apparent in the fact that though an individual may
"theoretically, . . . [have] a choice" to refrain from such activity, "given the situational context . . .
the concept of choice is not even present"; disobedience to the dictates of authority means
"punishment, disgrace, humiliation, expulsion, or even death" (196). Therefore, one is freed from
moral unease by the fact that he may feel trapped and unable to act against his superiors, as
retaliation would be imminent. In some instances, as was demonstrated by

Torture Against Women
Violence and torture against women is an accepted form of submission that is institutionalized and
encourages the assault of the body, mind and sexuality. During the time of civil war and the Taliban
regime, the extremist took the role of enforcing repercussions resulting from disobedience in the
form of rape, gang rape, public beatings, mutilation, and torture (Sharif, 2015). The society promotes
men – husband, father or brother, to decide how the women in their family will look, dress, marry,
the activities she will engage in, and if she is allowed to pursue education. This absence of choice
is reflective of the patriarchal society which still exists within Afghanistan. For any disobedience of
a women towards the men in her life brings...show more content...
Ignorance on behalf of nation states to provide a solution to social calamity across the globe caused
the marginalized and racialized to be removed, displaced and exiled. When they found refugee in a
new host country, they are likely to become re–victimized and re–traumatized. For, the critical social
theory analyzes and addressed the reoccurance of re–victimization of individuals who have already
experienced

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