Is Torture Ever Acceptable?

[Linda Ween]

For a very long period of time, torture has been used for getting the information. Nevertheless, it is not the only usage – torture can be used as the coercion or punishment, as well. During wartime, it was a widespread tool used by the militaries. However, is this a justified means of gaining the information? This paper presents the argumentative essay on rather controversial subject – whether torture should be accepted in our society or not.
This topic causes mixed reactions. More discussions check on the website of best article writing service. From the one hand, there are a lot of people who consider torture to be vital and reasonable in some extreme situations. Torture has always been to the fore at moments of crisis. For example, the September 11 attacks were the reason of Bush’s decision to use torture at the suspected terrorists. CIA and the U. S. Military have gone to extremes in torturing at Guantanamo. Sexual humiliation, physical damage and even death became a part of tortures. In the article “Is There a Torturous Road to Justice?”, Dershowitz declares that such type of interrogation as torture can be legalized under the special circumstances. Hence, torture, if it is the solution, can be used to safeguard the freedom and lives of many innocent people. Nevertheless, not all the types of torture are acceptable.
On the other hand, there are a lot of those, who are not in favor of the tortures. The cornerstone of each country is the law. The United States are founded on the principles of liberty and freedom. People are born equal in rights and dignity. Humiliation and physical damage are supposed to be against the law. It is obvious that no one can feel safe, if he/she can become a target at any single moment of life. What if someone decides that you are a terrorist? As a consequence, electrocution will make you confess in any sin. Is it possible that information getting in such way is reliable?
What is more, some methods of torture may cause the permanent damage to person’s health. Torture may deprive of the proper functioning of the human body. As a result, people become blind, lose their hands and legs or even lose the ability to have a child in the future.
Meanwhile, the proponents of the idea of using tortures give examples of extreme cases, when such type of interrogation can be justified. Dershowitz narrates about the case of kidnapping. The child was abducted and buried in a box. There was not enough oxygen to breathe; the child had only two hours. In case the kidnapper refuses to disclose the location of the child, should we not consider torture in that situation? It is a very difficult question for the opponents of torture. However, under those circumstances, the answer is simple for the parents of that child.
Nevertheless, laws are based on the rational cases and facts. By and large, people do not make the decision based on such rare cases, as mentioned above. There are those who may ask, how can anyone be certain that those who suffer torture got the right information?
As far as I am concerned, the use of torture can be excused in some extreme cases for saving lives. Especially, in the case of undermining, when thousands of people can be injured. The innocent people must be protected from those, who do not know the world ‘morality’ and are able to destroy cities because of some religious or personal reasons. No doubt, Department of Justice should investigate police departments for alleged use of torture and find evidence, if they may have violated any civil rights. The usage of torture must be strictly controlled by the government.