Torture is any operation by which brutal pain or anguish, whether physical or mental, is intentionally imposed on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him, or a third person, information (Levin's). It can also involve punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is supposed of having committed, or threatening 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 beginning of or with the approval or acceptance of a public bureaucrat or other person, acting in an executive capability, then it constitutes torture (Levin's).
Throughout history, torture has been used as a method of political re-education, questioning, and punishment. The motive for torture can be for aggressive indulgence of torturer. For me torture is the most essential technique though there are several techniques that can be used to interrogate suspects such as, dishonesty, torment, increasing knowledge, and the use of mind-altering drugs (Dershowitz). I view anguish as the most useful procedure that should be used to extort information from suspects especially those who are got red handed and extra information is needed. When this method is selected, the first thing the interrogator classically does is to consider on the type of information he/she would like to extort from the matter. The process of using afflict to extort the target information may have several outcomes and may become more useful when the victim offers the truthful information that can enable the police to get more information about the lawbreakers and save the lives of innocent citizens.
It is usually implicit that torment is unconstitutional, retrogressive, and appealing to a more brutal age. Enlightened societies reject it absolute, and system alleged to have the risk of fury of the United States. I have a strong believe that this thought is unwise because there are situations in which torture is not just a permissible but morally mandatory especially during this period of rising terrorism in the world (Levin's). If the only way to save lives of millions of people from the hands of the terrorists is trough torture, then I do not see any reason rejecting this technique. I can agree that torturing the terrorists is unconstitutional but millions of lives surely outweigh constitutionality. Torture is barbaric but mass murder is even more barbaric. Letting millions of innocents die in deference to one who flaunts his guilt is moral cowardice and a clear indication of giving room to terrorists to kill people (Dershowitz).
Torture is compatible with society’s concept of justice as almost all cultures ranging from Romans, Jews, Egyptians and many other cultures have used it from time immemorial and it has been proved to work effectively since it deters the potential offenders. Medieval and early modern European courts used torture, depending on the crime of the accused and his or her social grade. Better precedents for torture are assassination and pre-emptive attack (Levin's). Torture was deemed a legal means to extort assertion or to acquire the names of accomplices or other information about an offense. It was permitted by law if there was half-proof against the convicted and therefore this can be applied to the modern criminals especially those already sentenced to death to force them to disclose the names of the other offenders who are on the ground thus making the world better place to live (Levin's).
Torture, it turns out, can occasionally create honest information. “The Israeli Supreme Court outlawed all use of even moderate, non-lethal physical pressure” (Dershowitz). The Israeli understanding recommended that messages obtained because of torture should never be believed, except if it can be separately confirmed, but such information can sometimes be self-proving, as when the subject leads law enforcement to the actual location of the bomb (Dershowitz). This is a clear indication that torture can be used to save life’s of innocent citizens and hence can be used especially when an individual is got red handed. The Rome statute of the international criminal court provides for criminal prosecution of individuals responsible for genocide, war crimes, and misdemeanor against civilization and though it dismisses torture it applies it indirectly, for example hanging of Sadam Hussein was like torture since it was revenge (Dershowitz).
In conclusion, as a society we should accept that one person being killed to save thousands is legitimate. “There is little danger that the Western democracies will lose their way if they choose to inflict pain as one way of preserving order” (Levin's). Of course, it is far more disgusting to inflict harm on an innocent person than a wrongdoer," said Professor Bagaric," (Levin's). However, in some severe cases, where it is almost certain someone has information that could prevent many lives being lost and there is no other way to obtain that information (Levin's). The mere fact that they're not directly involved in creating that threat doesn't mean they can wash their hands of responsibility (Levin's).
Works cited
Dershowitz, Alan. (2002) “The Case for Torture Warrants,” Web. Retrieved on 9th Nov, 2011
Levin's, Michael (1982). “The Case for Torture,” Web. Retrieved on 9th Nov, 2011 from
