Friday, 27 January 2017

Would you be tortured if it could save lives?

Torture has been in the news recently, but Trump has stated that it will not go ahead in the US.  There have been loads of arguments for it.  I have to say, that a terrorist who has murdered children deserves torture, but I have several concerns. One is the effect torture has on those interrogating suspects. The next is that one mans terrorist is a freedom fighter to another.  An example of this were the French Resistance in World War Two who were considered terrorists by the Germans and Vichy France.  And if torture against terrorists is okay, then the Nazi's were okay to torture them along with the members of resistance groups across occupied Europe.  Another example of this are the volunteers who are fighting in Syria against Unislamic State.  They are considered, by both Russia and Syria, to be terrorists. 

But the last is the risk of torturing innocents.  So my first question to those who back torture is this. Would you agree to be tortured for a week along with nine other terrorists to save the lives of others? Would you agree to have your child, or another loved one tortured knowing they were innocent, along with nine terrorists, so that the lives of others would be saved? Because when it comes to suspects, they are just that. Suspects.  And we know that we have tortured the innocent before.

The next refers to the volunteers who I mentioned before, fighting against Unislamic State.  Is it right for Russia and Syria to torture them if they are captured?