Introduction of Is Torture Ever Acceptable?

Torture is the act of personally inflicting severe physical or mental pain as a form of punishment, or in order to force someone to do or say something. The methods can be inhumane and cruel, but some societies and governments still give their approval to these acts in secrecy, even though torture clearly violates the law, the rights of the people being tortured, and what our consciences claim right. However, there are still people who advocate these doings and arguing that: Desperate times call for desperate measures.

Innocent people have lost their lives, hundreds injured and many families heartbroken by the deeds of terrorists, even in the nowadays societies: advanced, civilized and humane. Simply imagine being someone related to a person who has suffered from the above causes, dead or badly injured… Now ask yourself the question: if a person who has the information in regards to the terrorist attack, and he was tortured prior to the attack in order to prevent the assault, what would your response be?

The majority of people show disgust and hatred after hearing the word torture, picturing one of the gross torturing scenes in the famous TV series “24”. In these television series, soldiers have been given power in which they abused, simply to prevent terrorist attacks or protect the lives of civilians. However, this kind of violence taught by the media could easily twist our ideas toward nations and their governments, for none of the content in the series really existed. For example: “is the USA government really carrying out torturing programs on terrorists in secrecy, just as shown in the movies?” We don’t know for sure. 

It is fairly difficult to determine whether torture is ever acceptable. It can be said that each and every person, civilian has his or her own opinion considering this contradictive issue; some support the act of torture, arguing that different measures have to be taken, even in force during particular periods, like wars. However, opposition voices hail for human rights and welfares that should never be ignored even in conflicts.

Hundreds of thousands acts of tortures are being performed throughout the world every day, due to various situations. Most of them are done for bad reasons, but there are some in exchange of the greater goods. In some of the situations, it’s to prevent terrorist attacks or to get important information. How should we really just the act of Torture? And should it ever be acceptable?