...Kenny Anderson Political Science Prof. Hawn 10 October 2012 Government and Torture Means of torture have been used around the world for a number of years. At one point in time it had been terminated in the United States; however, after the events of September 11, 2001, it has come back as an acceptable way to acquire information from terrorists. Torture is, according to the United Nation Convention Against Torture in 1984: “any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him, or a third person, information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating 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 instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in, or incidental to, lawful sanctions.” (OHCHR) This definition, regardless of any country's own rules, regulations and laws is obligatory to be carried out by all the countries. When someone is accused of being a culprit of torture, there are various credentials, which are modified to wartime situations when needed. In general to be a culprit, one must bring severe physical, mental pain or suffering upon the victim. In most scenarios...
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...Punishment in Dante’s Inferno In Dante’s Inferno, Dante narrates his descent and observation of hell through its various circles. One part of this depiction is his descriptions of the various punishments that each of the different sinners has received. The various punishments that Dante imagines the sinners receiving are broken down into two types. The first type he borrows from various gruesome and cruel forms of torture and the second type is Dante’s creative mind thinking of less physically agonizing types of torture, usually psychological torture. The torturous forms of punishments are either physical pain or mental and psychological suffering. Several punishments that Dante envisions for the various sinners are forms of torture. The first physical punishment from that is his punishment for the heretics. The penalty in the medieval era for heresy was public humiliation or worse, being burned to death for having different beliefs. In Dante’s opinion, to be a heretic was to follow one’s own opinion and not the beliefs of the Christian Church. Dante’s punishment for heretics and those who followed them was that they be sepulchered and to have some tombs “heated more, some less” as in to still have them suffer while buried. Since the archheretics believed that everything died with the body and that there was no soul, Dante not only punishes them with the hot and crowded tombs, but he punishes them with their beliefs and lets them feel what it is like to...
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...Terrorism of Ultimate Torture In every war against terrorism, information is a key weapon. But does that mean that torture can be used as an acceptable technique to extract information? According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, torture is considered as the ultimate violation of human being's individual rights and is the only crime that every state must punish. The Abu Ghraib torture and prison abuse case suffers the utmost unbearable torture implemented by the U.S military army on the innocent prisoners. The case also demonstrates the impact of the unfair use of power over the prisoners as the military uses restricted techniques of torture to humiliate the prisoners and gather information. In the summer of 2003, the Abu Ghraib case came to public attention shortly after the U.S military army committed human rights violations against the prisoners held in the Abu Ghraib Prison. They used unethical methods of physically and mentally torturing the prisoners as part of their interrogation techniques. Some of the harsher interrogation techniques forced upon the prisoners were engaging in sexual and homosexual behaviours and using opaque bags to cover their faces. The increasing pressure forced upon the U.S military army to determine the cause of the mortar attacks on the U.S eventually, led to many military personnel applying harsher interrogation techniques to procure more information from the prisoners. To protect the Americans from terrorism, the U.S started to control...
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...Renaissance Punishment/Torture Torture devices were used all throughout the Middle Ages as a way to punish criminals and get a confession from someone. The word torture comes from the Latin word ‘tortura’ ultimately deriving from the word ‘torquere’ meaning “to twist”. The torture and punishment depended on the victim’s crime and social status. Torture was the most common form of punishment in the Middle Ages, only being abolished in England in 1640. Torture reached its peak around the 12th century. From the mid-18th century it was the most common method used and was allowed by the Roman Catholic Church. Torture wasn’t exclusively for criminals, it was also used by the Knights Templar, a member of a religious and military order founded by Crusaders in Jerusalem about 1118 and suppressed in 1312; the Spanish inquisition to punish a person who speaks disrespectfully of sacred things, and liars. The well-known torture devices are the Head Crusher, Cat’s Paw (or Spanish Tickler), Knee Splitter, Scavenger’s Daughter, Judas Chair, Spanish Donkey, Choke Pear, Lead Sprinkler, Breast Ripper, and Crocodile Shears. With the Head Crusher the device was a helmet like hat they placed on top of the victims head and the chin was placed above a metal bar, then the device would slowly turn compressing the skull tightly. First the teeth are destroyed, shattering and splintering into the jaw. Then the eyes are squeezed from the sockets. Lastly the skull fractures and the contents of the head...
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...wasn't giving information willingly, why did he give any information at all? It is hard to avoid thinking about the dirty word that everyone is too polite to mention, the "T-word": torture? They say it was just "interrogation," which is what torture lite is. Things like bags over the head, tight handcuffs, no light, no food or bathroom, endless shouting or blaring music or noise, bits of light violence. And, of course, the constant mental and emotional torture of fearing that serious physical pain might start taking place at any moment. But, is it morally correct to use these techniques on an individual just for the sole purpose of obtaining information? The following paper will go in-depth on the moral standpoints of torture lite. From an Act Utilitarian viewpoint, torture lite can indeed be justified. I would say that an individual act of torture lite is justified when it will clearly produce more good than harm. Weigh the suffering of the victim against the odds of either deterring great amounts of crime or obtaining information vital to avoid large amounts of suffering for the greater good. Basically, this act can surely benefit a society just by placing a little bit of suffering on someone to better the society as a whole. This is how torture lite can be justified. On the other side, torture lite is condemned by Rule Utilitarianism. Rule utilitarianism can be seen as a practice rule, which states that even though in some or most cases the rule wouldn't cause the greatest...
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...My Whether torture should be allowed in situations such as interrogation and other areas of security, is a debatable topic. Christians must provide strong biblical references, instead of our emotions, or it can cause us to get drawn into a political confrontation and lose witness with someone. An utilitarianism would probably search the specific issue of torture out to see if it fit their description of “Good and/or Right”. If this torture of one person or a small group were to benefit thousands of others by saving their lives and protecting their personal security, utilitarianism would say that it is good to do this because it is at the benefit of the more, and is right to do so in turn. Kant’s Duty based ethics would look at this situation and ask if the person performing the torture was fulfilling duty by doing so. If this person were following the instructions by the higher command, it doesn’t matter how this person feels, the duty is being fulfilled and that is a good and/or right thing. Virtue ethics have a seemingly similar approach, but focus more on the emotions and feelings the person has other that the motives. This person that is torturing out of duty is fulfilling that duty nonetheless, but this person might enjoy torture for his own personal gain. Even though the duty is being fulfilled, virtue ethics say that this person is wrong in doing it, not by fulfilling the duty, but by other selfish motives. If this person were doing it out of love of country in order...
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...Tori Krug British Literature Coach Cardwell September 13, 2011 Analysis on Grendel The swamp creature known as Grendel was said to have been a direct descendent of Cain. Grendel is described as a monster who likes to terrorize the Danes. He is strong, tall, and prays on Hrothgar out of vengeance and jealousy. Grendel killed by torturing his victims in the worse way he can imagine. Grendel killed his prey by torture. “ Grendel snatched at the first Geat he came to, ripped him apart, cut his body to bits with powerful jaws, drank the blood from his veins and bolted him down, hands and feet; death and Grendel’s great teeth came together.” This shows that Grendel shows no sympathy for his kill. He doesn’t care that he’s killing innocent people because he had a “...lust for evil.” Grendel is very strong and big. He would have to be if he can carry a lot of men, dead weight, from a mead hall all the way back to his cave in the swamp. “...snatched up thirty men, smashed them unknowing in their beds and ran out with their bodies, the blood dripping behind him, back to his lair, delighted with his night’s slaughter.” Grendel prays on Hrothgar and the rest of the Danes out of vengeance and jealousy. Grendel is jealous of men because he wishes he could feel all the emotions that they feel. Grendel and monsters like him was shut away from men. So Grendel can’t feel love and happiness like the rest of the men. “ The Almighty drove those demons out, and their exile was ...
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...Journal for Critical Animal Studies, Volume 10, Issue 2, 2012 (ISSN1948-352X) Beyond Dehumanization: A Post-Humanist Critique of Solitary Confinement Lisa Guenther Abstract What does it mean to be treated like a nonhuman animal? In this paper, I analyze the discourse of “dehumanization” in Madrid v Gomez, a 1995 Eighth Amendment case concerning the treatment of prisoners at California’s Pelican Bay Supermax Penitentiary. I argue that the language of dehumanization fails to describe the harm of solitary confinement because it remains complicit with a hierarchical opposition between human and nonhuman animal that rebounds against prisoners, especially those who have been racialized and/or sexualized as less than human. Humanist discourse neglects the sense in which both human and nonhuman animals are affective, corporeal beings who rely upon the support of others for their own capacity to orient themselves within a mutually-perceived world. Drawing on the testimony of inmates in solitary confinement, and situating this testimony in relation to the political and scientific history of US incarceration practices, I develop a post-humanist critique of solitary confinement. Keywords: Solitary confinement, sensory deprivation, intercorporeal Malebranche would not have beaten a stone as he beat his dog, saying that the dog didn’t suffer. Merleau-Ponty, Nature, 166 Certain carceral practices are often condemned – both by prisoners and by their legal or political advocates –...
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...Con Side of Debate Summary Should enhanced interrogation be used to protect the citizens of the United States? The answer is no. The following is a summary of the debate our team engaged in to include key points and data to support our argument. Communication Process and Effectiveness As in previous team discussions, the goal right out of the gate was to understand the objective, initiate debate and set an obtainable suspense for completion. I initiated the debate on the first day by proposing we start the discussion as soon as possible and set a deadline of Friday at 5:00pm to conclude debate. I also laid out several pros to enhanced interrogation such as the successful interrogations of Khalid Sheik Mohammad, the ticking time bomb situation and why terrorists deserve it. I also included the evil they do and would do, and made comparisons to how the terrorist’s treat their prisoners. (Messerli, 2012). The team members who responded right away concurred with the Friday deadline, and we began to comment on the five pros identified. Key Points and Supporting Arguments From the main pros discussed, our team primarily focused on three points. First, everyone agreed that just asking the terrorists nicely won’t work. In addition, enhanced interrogation is justified if it will stop another terrorist attack and/or save the lives of Americans; especially if it was a ticking time bomb scenario. Second, our team felt...
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...current debate regarding torture being used as an interrogation measure stands whether or not forms of torture are being masked as “enhanced” interrogation techniques to extract information from suspected terrorists. The argument in Essay 161 is that waterboarding and other severe interrogation methods constitute as torture, and are not effective. Therefore, we should find alternative solutions to extract information. The argument in Essay 172 is that severe interrogation methods are necessary to save the lives of hundreds or thousands of innocent lives. Therefore, we should reject the arguments made by those against severe interrogation methods. In this paper, I will evaluate each of these arguments and furthermore say which argument is stronger with evidence. Enhanced interrogation methods refers to the U.S government’s program of systematic torture of detainees by the Central Intelligence Agency (and others) authorized by the George W. Bush administration.3 Waterboarding is a form of torture in which water is poured over a cloth covering the face and breathing passages of an immobilized suspect, causing the individual to experience the sensation of drowning. Waterboarding can cause extreme pain, dry drowning, damage to lungs, brain damage from oxygen deprivation, and other physical injuries including broken bones due to struggling against restraints, lasting psychological damage, and death.3 Whether waterboarding should be classified as a method of torture or not since it was...
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...Crime and punishment in the 1600s — not a happy subject. These were violent times. Laws during this time were strict, some even could be called irrational. Crimes were met with torturous, violent executions. Lots of people received torture; although the lucky ones got a direct execution. Many of these punishments were executed in public, for hundreds of people to see. The lower class saw these viewings as fun outings and treated them like it was a show. Many of the Elizabethan laws were created by the Catholic Church. This resulted in many of the laws were straight from the Bible. The Queen also had some affect in creating the laws. The laws varied in between the upper and lower class. The upper class had many political laws. Among the most common of these include: High treason, blasphemy, sedition, alchemy, and witchcraft. High treason is given to anyone who tries to over through the Queen or anyone else in a high place of government. Blasphemy is a rule created by priests. A...
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...represents cultural identity and history, ultimately sending the message that music is an unforgiving but positive force in the Indian’s lives. The horses’ music plays an important role in the novel as Alexie uses their silence and screaming to demonstrate the connection music forms between the Indian’s past and present. Reliving her experience before and during the horse massacre by the white men, Big Mom recalls “She had taught all of her horses to sing many generations before, but she soon realized this was not a song of her teaching. The song sounded so pained and tortured that Big Mom never could have imagined it before the white men came” (Alexie 9). As the white men approach, the horses sing for the first time a song of pain and torture...
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...Among many widespread concerns about torture, one is what exactly defines it, and what specific acts are included. While Bagaric does not mention this in his argument, it is a main concern to Johnson throughout his article. Johnson describes torture as “a form of terrorism…The object of all such physical and mental torment is singularly clear: to terrify prisoners so they will yield information.” (26) Later in his article, Johnson quotes the definition of torture as defined by the U.S. Justice Department, and reads as follows: “‘Physical pain amounting to torture must be equivalent in intensity to the pain accompanying serious physical injury, such as organ failure, impairment of bodily function, or even death.’” (27) An article in the February...
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...Waterboarding, sleep deprivation, and dietary manipulation. Those three techniques is just a few examples of a long list of ways people have been tortured, or in some cases interrogated. The use of torture, or enhanced interrogation techniques have been a big controversy in the United States. It does not change the way society and economic powers in the world basically encourage the use of these techniques, no matter how many people say that it is terrible or unjust. About 3,000 casualties happened on 9/11 (9/11 Attacks), 12 deaths during the Charlie Hebdo shooting (Hebdo Shooting), and there were 31 victims and at least 100 other people wounded in an attack in Turkey (CNN). Thus being capable to catch, capture, or do away with said government’s hateful groups dead set against them is needed. Torture to some people is a means of preventing terrorism....
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...Dr Rosalind Hearder stated that “Captivity in war is a difficult and confronting experience, regardless of the particular conflict.”. In this extended response, I will attempt to explore the ideas behind this statement, while looking into the varying experiences of prisoners during the second world war. When looking into the treatment of soldiers during war time, it is important to have an understanding of the Geneva Convention. The Geneva Convention is essentially a just agreement to ensure safety of those caught in the crossfire of war. The idea for the Geneva convention came about in 1859 due to Henry Dunant. He was visiting Italy for business, and witnessed an example of neglect as a direct result of the Battle of Solferino. “[He] was horrified to see thousands of war soldiers after a battle being abandoned with no one to offer them aid or help.” (HistoryOnTheNet, 2014a). Because of Dunant’s disappointment in the inhumane treatment of people, he came up with a brilliant idea - to have a type of voluntary cure team, looking after the suffering, wounded men at war - and so the first Geneva convention was started. In 1864, a conference in Geneva took place to agree on terms for the treaty. It was established that it would protect those who were unable to participate in battles, due to wounds, sickness, or being a prisoner of war. This agreement has been amended 3 times over the years since, being updated in 1907 (the Second Geneva Convention) to include the protection...
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