Analysis Of Torture

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Analysis of Torture Abstract In analyzing whether torturing and enemy combatant or high–value targets are moral efforts in an American free society, one could look at the war on terrorism as an basis of it being moral or not. The act of torturing a person to get information that will help the good of the country is a thin line and could be seen as a moral act in some people eyes or not. Torturing a person is inflicting injury on a person against his will and is sometimes overlooked if the reason for the torture is justified. Although torture is an inhumane act sometimes it can be acceptable in order to attain
Some of these torture tactics were seen as cruel or inhuman treatment as stated by the authors in the article by Cornell University School of Law, which states that “the act of a person who commits, or conspires or attempts to commit, an act intended to inflict severe or serious physical or mental pain or suffering other than, pain or suffering incidental to lawful sanctions, including serious physical abuse, upon another within his custody or control” (Cornell University Law School, 2013). If this definition is seen as being okay during trying times then torture would be considered as cruel or inhuman treatment as per this definition. If this is true then we as American citizens also played a part in this decision, because we went along with the torture tactics that our nation’s military personnel inflicted on those that were captured during war or terroristic investigations. Nevertheless, these events have made some people think that torture was accepted as a national security counterterrorist initiative for the sake of defending our countries democracy. Alan Dershowitz a famous lawyer from the Harvard Law School reveals these ideas about torture when he submits in the book “Criminal Justice Ethics: Theory and Practice, 2e” that
On the other hand these torture tactics would also be rendered to Americans by the people that we are at war with as well. There are some people that believe that the utilitarian theory is not justified when a person is tortured as Ronald Dworkin revealed this in the book “Criminal Justice Ethics:Theory and Practice, 2e” when he revealed that “a core list of human rights, would include the right not to be tortured, and torture constitutes the most profound insult to its’ victim’s humanity, the most profound outrage of his human rights”(Banks, Cyndi, 2009). Dworkin disagrees with the act of torture and acknowledges the fact that it is an act that violates the human rights of individuals in a society. This way of thinking places blame on individuals that use torture to gain information for their benefit, because this way of gaining information violates human rights by the person that is being tortured. This same principle was given thought in our e-book readings when the author states that “the double effect principle cannot justify torture even by arguing that the pain and suffering inflicted is intended to produce greater good and with the torturer claiming he intended only the good and not the