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The Pros And Cons Of Rejection Of Torture

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The Pros And Cons Of Rejection Of Torture
Brandon Balsirow
Professor Long
Hon. Good and Evil
11 December 2017
Word Count: 1541
Rejection of Torture Under Any Circumstance Torture should never be used in any form or case, not even in the ticking time bomb scenario. The use of torture should not be dependent of ideology, whether it be authoritarian, communist, liberal, and anywhere in between. This is truly a matter of morality. Torture strips us of our humanity and we must wonder how a civilized society could ever permit such a barbaric act. Being born in a free country, I never had to worry about being tortured. I also have never seen someone tortured, nor have I heard of someone I know having been tortured. Not having experienced torture first-hand, it is difficult to grasp the full …show more content…
The suspect in custody is pleading the fifth and will not disclose the location of the bomb. In this example, it is extremely difficult for someone to say “No” to torture because they believe that it will ultimately save a lot of lives if the suspect is tortured and the bomb is found and secured before it detonates. This leads to hasty responses without the full grasp of short-term and long-term implications of torture. This scenario’s ultimate purpose is to make an exception for when torture is acceptable. “Prohibitionists” can no longer oppose torture completely and now must decide on what types of torture and for what purpose it is used. I reject the notion to agree with torture being used in this case or any such like it. Firstly, the person suspected of planting the bomb is innocent before proven guilty in the eyes of the law. In a civilized society, there are trials before judges and our peers to determine culpability and innocence. Torturing the suspect before proving guilt is barbaric and against all values of a free nation. A solution that someone might say is that we can introduce warrants for torture in cases where time is of the essence. Putting this matter into a judge’s hands is absurd. The judge has his own biases and may be more prone to offer torture warrants dependent on race or even his stance on the issue of torture. Secondly, there is a probability that the suspect in custody is either not the real perpetrator and/or does not know anything substantial such as the bomb’s location. We cannot risk innocent civilians being tortured for something they have not done. We cannot have a free society when people are subject to torture on a whim. Thirdly, I believe that detectives should be trained enough to gather information in other manners that mitigates
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