Ethics off turture Free Essay Example, 1250 words

Food and water denial as a method of torture meant a strict schedule of bread and water. Sleep denial was practiced prior to questioning and often in combination with wall-standing. Torture is justified under certain circumstances that will provide information to save someone’s life or the lives of many. It is extensively understood that the United States tortured senior Al Qaeda leader Khalid Sheikh Mohammad. There is indisputable proof that it tortured huge numbers of Iraqi prisoners and there is strong support that it tormented prisoners at Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba, where suspected al Qaeda terrorists are held (Lukes, 34). Victims of torture were usually subjected to this conditioning over the course of about a week. Another typical example in this situation is the ticking bomb in the mall. It is the German case of September 2002, which involved the kidnapping and assassination of 11-year-old Jakob von Metzler, and the intimidation by the police of his kidnapper with torture. After three day of Metzler’s kidnapping, security personnel watched a man collect the money and put him under arrest. The suspect toyed with the police about the location of the boy and the police chief permitted his officers in a written order to instill torture to the kidnapper. We will write a custom essay sample on Ethics off turture or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now After he was threatened with pain, it took only 10 minutes for the suspect to expose the location of the boy, who was already dead. This method worked in this case and to disallow the use of preventive interrogational torture in such situation may be as ruthless and morally wrong as other ways may not yield positive results. It is ruthless since, in true tragic cases, the failure to use precautionary interrogational torture will result in the ruin of blameless individuals (Vinar, 332). Upholding the rights of the suspect will work against the rights, including the very basic right to life, of innocent persons. Denial the application of deterrent torture meant for interrogation in such cases is also insincere: experience tells us that when faced with severe terrorization to the life of the state, government -- any administration will take whatsoever actions it deems necessary bring the crisis to halt. Any rigid utter ban on torture sets unlikely stan dards that no one can expect to meet when faced with excessively difficult circumstances (Vinar, 328). To quote from Michael Walzer, sticking by the total ban on torture, no matter what, reflects a radicalism of people who do not expect to exercise power ever, and who are not prepared to make the judgments that this exercise requires.