The United States is a country with a legal system that promotes justice under due process. Evidence of a crime is obtained through probable cause, the use of witnesses and the presentation of legally obtained evidence. A case is then brought before a court of law to determine guilt or innocence. Torture is strictly prohibited and never used to obtain evidence of a crime.
Torture or beating a confession out of a suspect is a violation of the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States. During an investigation of a crime, no person shall be forced to bear witness against themselves Miranda v. Arizona, (1966). What about war?
Is torture ethical when one is faced by an enemy that doesn’t operate within the guidelines of the United Nations Charter, nor specifically affiliate itself with a particular state or country? One example may be a terrorist who is captured during the course of a battlefield conflict and then transported to Cuba for interrogation. Before the investigators begin their interview with the terrorist, they uncover specific information from independent and corroborated sources that the captured terrorist was indeed in possession of vital information that an imminent attack was in progress. Consider the method of attack to be the detonation of a kinetic, chemical, or nuclear weapon within the limits of a major city of the United States. Considering the mechanics used to notify the leadership of the country to give the permission to use enhance interrogation techniques, should torture be used? In this example, with exigent circumstances, the act of committing torture has the ability to save thousands of lives. In this instance, the use of torture far outweighs the savagery of the act (Elder, 2004). When is it ethical to torture?
In the author’s opinion, torturing the enemy to inflict pain for the purpose of inflicting pain as well as degrading and humiliating a terrorist or violating their religious beliefs is unethical. The acts committed at the prison in Abu Ghurayb are outside the requirements to satisfy exigent circumstances (Elder, 2004). Further, specific methods of torture should be approved by the leadership of the country. Checks and balances should be put in place to ensure these methods of torture are not used outside this example and never appear in civilian law enforcement.
Unfortunately, conditions around the world have deteriorated since the time of the Founding Fathers. The emphasis of fairness and the laws and procedures governing the treatment of terrorists must be adapted for the protection of the American people.
References
Elder, R. (2004). Bomb is ticking; do you OK torture? Santa Clara University. Retrieved from
Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966).
