Pros And Cons Of Torture

Improved Essays
Over the years, the human population has struggled over many moral dilemma such as human values and life decisions. The debate of torture is one of the many moral dilemmas. Some say torture is a human right violation, but others say it is necessary for the humanity. Torture has been used since the medieval age to extract information or for punishment to a person. In that time era torture was not a decision of right and wrong but a necessity of doing what is needed to survive in a harsh world. Now as mankind is getting sensitive about this issue. It does not change the fact that torture is a necessity in modern life.
Torture in the eyes of many is a negative method that is used to inflict pain to remove information from a person. Torture is
…show more content…
History has shown that many people are willing to abandon their moral rules when there are larger things involved. Take World War II as an example, the United States’ government were willing to restrict the First Amendment, the freedom of speech, as it was getting in the way of warfare with Germany. When people started to use concentration camps during World War II or Camp 22 as an example of the human rights violation, which is a misunderstanding about the use of torture. The torturers, in this example, are clearly mentally unstable people that use torture as a way for pleasure or to feel superior to the victims. These people that use torture as a way for pleasure are misusing the true way of torture. The source from Camp 22 “In the hills here, if there is some flat area, it is covered with graves. And if people start to farm there, they find bodies or bones”(Camp 22 refuges) shows that the North Korean suspects are using the method of torture to the extreme, not using torture as a way to extract information, but a way for them to pass time. So in term of torture, it is not used for harming innocent people, but use for dangerous individuals that can cause hazardous damage to the

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    The author used good ethos by not just presenting his point of view, but other views, as well. Levin starts the argument by asking the audience to open their mind for a moment and listen to what needs to be said. Accepting the fact that as Americans fear that by using torture, “WE turn into Them.” However, the audience is assured that the line between “US and THEM” will remain clear if torture is only used to protects and save endangered lives. An example used in the article that also shows fair treatment is how opponents of the death penalty say that by executing the murder will not bring the victim back to life.…

    • 908 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Summary: The Term Torture

    • 413 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The term “Torture” derives from the Latin word “tortus” meaning “twisted. Torture involves the intentional infliction of physical or mental pain on a person to fulfill some desire of the perpetrator or to compel some action from the victim. The following are some general definitions of torture. 1. Torture is the act of inflicting excruciating pain, as punishment or revenge, as a means of getting a confession or information, or for sheer cruelty.…

    • 413 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    When hearing about torture, whether on the news or in an article, we as Americans do not consider the lasting effects it has on people. Physical and psychological torture is mainly employed as war tactics, to get information out of people. Torture is not a concept that is talked about on a day to day basis, because of the many freedoms we experience as Americans. In the article The Case for Torture, Michael Levin portrays torture as something that should be permissible.…

    • 781 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Why Torture Is Wrong

    • 1388 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Torture is generally ineffective, effects those subjected to it for the remainder of their lives, and is unacceptable no matter the reason. Consider the United Nations, what it is and what it stands for. The United Nations wrote and signed something known as the Geneva Conventions. The Geneva Conventions explicitly state in article 3 that, “humane treatment is required for all people in enemy hands. The use of murder, mutilation, torture, and the use of humiliating or degrading treatment is prohibited.”…

    • 1388 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    I. introduction • hook – Just exactly how saddening was medieval torture? • background – Torture is defined as the sole act of inflicting agony and torment both physically and mentally upon an individual through several different instruments. • thesis – Social Status, gender, and the severity of the crime of the accused greatly influenced how a victim would be tortured during medieval times. • quote – “The sad truth is that most evil is done by people who never make up their minds to be either good or evil,” as stated by Hannah Arendt. II.…

    • 635 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Torture is by its very nature, a touchy subject. The act of extorting information through pain strips a person of their inalienable dignity. Because of this the subject should not be taken lightly. Therefore it is important however to think logically about what torture is doing. A hypothetical situation it can make this easier to depict.…

    • 672 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Origin Of Torture Essay

    • 379 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Even as humans became more civil and educated about the rights of fellow humans or even citizens, torture was still prevalent. Millions of Germans suffered fatal fates because of the genocidal regime under the Nazi rule in 20th century. The uncensored goal of Hitler was to create a European world both ruled populated by the ‘perfect’ “Aryan” race. To accomplish this perverse goal, Hitler’s regime became dedicated to eradicating millions of people it deemed undesirable. People were undesirable because of uncontrollable reasons such who they are i.e. their genetic or cultural origins.…

    • 379 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Men have been shackled to walls or ceilings for days, in diapers, locked in coffins, rectally violated, subject to days of sleep deprivation, beaten, and (in one instance) murdered (Chait). The Convention Against Torture (CAT) was ratified 20 years ago, and it continues to ask questions that involve banning torture and cruel treatment (Memo). This convention clearly wants to know whether the U.S. considers these practices illegal, and not just ill advised (Memo). Since 9/11, torture has increased throughout the U.S. and it is coming back into intellectual fashion (There’s). Torture may be hated, but it has beneficial outcomes; and no one wants torture to be used because it is inhumane, but without torture there is more of a chance that terrorists attack.…

    • 1257 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Using the example of a man who is captured by the United States military and then is tortured for information. Unfortunately the man is clueless and has no information, yet he is still tortured further until death. After discovering his innocence, it becomes apparent they have killed a surrendered civilian meaning the army has committed a war crime. There are other more humane ways for obtaining information we have no need to resort to such methods. How can we honestly support such a cruel act to be performed on a human being, would that not make us just as bad as our enemy the…

    • 575 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    “We don’t torture people in America and people who say we do simply know nothing about our country,” said by the former 43rd President of the United States of America, George W. Bush. President Bush has the right to talk about the usage of torture and how it relates to the United States of America, because the controversial topic of whether torture was justified or not rose during his presidency. In the month of September in the year of 2001, the United States experienced one of its most devastating situations ever; terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers in New York City. In order to prevent future attacks and to dig out the masterminds of these attacks, Bush 's administration legalized the use of torture. It was believed by Bush’s administration…

    • 2209 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Origin Of Torture

    • 1122 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The origin of torture dates back to 530 A.D. when the Romans used interrogated slaves and lower-class citizens. Today, there are international and domestic laws against the use of torture during interrogations. The United Nations Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment defines torture as “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. ” Torture is administered as a set of abuses in an environment that causes the emotions of surprise and fear, and extinguishes any sense of escape, resistance, and relief.…

    • 1122 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Torture is a commonly debated subject, some believing it is an appropriate means of receiving wanted information, while others believe it to be unjust and a completely cruel idea. Torture is not only severely damaging to the the prisoner, it is also extremely detrimental to the perpetrator as well. According to CNN’s report on the investigation into the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence 's report on the CIA and its detention and interrogation program, of 119 detainees captured between 2002-2008, 26 were found to be wrongfully held. Innocent people are losing their lives due to the ineffectiveness and cruelness of torture. In addition, 39 of these detainees were “subjected to enhanced interrogation techniques, which included sleep deprivation, waterboarding,…

    • 2238 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment torture is defined as follows: “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…”. In another word, torture is one of the methods that is used over prisoners during the wartime as an act of interrogation. It can be physical or psychological. The well-known method of torturing prisoners is using of gas chambers of gas vans. They were used in large scales during World War II by Nazi Germany for mass annihilation of Jewish people.…

    • 689 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Can we prove that certain acts, such as rape or torture, are objectively wrong? Prakriti Arora As the world is advancing, it is very difficult to determine whether the type of violence in any form, torture, rape, eve-teasing, domestic violence or molestation is ever acceptable or not. But each person has its own opinion upon these depending on the circumstance and the issues they know or they have a face.…

    • 883 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Is Torture Necessary

    • 635 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Citizens feel that they should never be subject to torture because it violates their basic human rights. For the United States, there is detention camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba where they take prisoners and torture them. The torture happens here because it is off American soil and people hardly ever know about what happens there because of the government’s secrecy. Most people think that torture is unacceptable because people are victims of countless beatings that are not necessary. Therefore, if the torture took place on United States soil, the media would know all about…

    • 635 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays