Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
By Jace Aguirre
While this attracted many doctors it also attracted many police officials,
with the possibility of using it as an interrogation method for suspects and
witnesses. By 1935 the head of the Michigan crime detection lab at east Lansing,
Clarence W. Muehlberger, used this new class of depressant drugs, on suspects
reluctant to speak. Though the use of barbiturates was hampered by courts who did
not accept barbiturate induced confessions except in a verry small amount of
cases.
There are hundreds of more methods of interrogation that vary from physical, to
emotional, to the use of other drugs that are used but we will not go into all of
them due to the extent of this argument.
Now that we know the many different types of torture I will get to the crux
of the issue, which is the when, why, how, of torture. When can we use it, Why do
we use it, how do we use it,
To begin with why should we torture people? what is a justifiable reason to
torture a person? Is it only when there is lives at stake? Or are there other
reasons to torture a person? How about the use of torture as a punishment for a
crime? In July 1994 seven year old Megan Kanka was invited to see a new puppy her
neighbor had bought. The neighbor, Jesse Timmendequas, was a twice convicted
pedophile. he raped her and murdered her and, then dumped her body in a near by
park. It was because of this that Megan's Law was later enacted to help prevent
this. I cannot think of a better situation for the use of torture, as a
punishment, than in cases like this. so it would seem that there is another
possible use of torture. But then you have to ask where is this going to go? If
we alow this torture, while wholly justified, to be allowed, what will be next,
who will we be torturing next? Will it go back to the days where people who steal
got there hands chopped off?
Also what if someone messes up and. . . convicts the wrong person?
Second question how will you torture someone? What techniques do you use?
what will work for one will not nessesarily work for the other. Keeping in mind
that the only reason why you use torture is as stated in the previous above
paragraph. What specificlly will you do to a person? Will you go back to the tools
of the inquisition? or will you use new techniques of today? what if the new
techniques don't work? what if they get used to the loud heavy metal music? What
then? Britney Spears? The Backstreet boys? What if you administer barbiturates but
all you find out about is some random personal secret that has nothing to do with
the issue at hand? Some people may only spill their guts if loss of limb is
inevitable. So what do you do?
Third question, what are the situations in which where torture can be used.
As I have stated before it must be where lives are at stake. The problem arises
when you have a variable (x). You have a prisoner, with known affiliations to a
organization such as Al Quada , the Black September, or another terrorist
organization. An organization who is known to go after soft targets, civilian
targets. When, therefore, do you know to use torture. As well how do you know the
prisoner is even knowledgeable of a terrorist plot, or even if he has anything to
do with the organization. This is one of the problems with knowing in what
situation to use torture. How do you know that you are not just destroying an
innocent person. The answer to this question is that you do not know. Assuming
that you are not just grabbing random people off the street, and throwing them in
the cell, there is a reason the particular person is in custody. sometimes you
must depend on the information you do have and work up from there. There is no
golden rule hat says this, this, that and, the other thing must be there in order
for you to use torture as a method of interrogation. You have to place the
welfare of the person being interrogated, with that of the possible lives that are
at stake. This is not a decision to take lightly. You cannot just go and use
torture as a method to interrogate persons suspected of a crime, nor can you do it
as punishment for Insignificant crimes.
Through the face of torture has changed dramaticly from the days of the
inquisition to the heavy metal music, drugs, sleep deprivation etc. of today, it
still does not change the fact that torture is a horrible institution, it leaves
marks both physically as well as mentally. But although a few suffer sometimes it
is so that the greater mass can live. there are some horrible people out there who
want to harm innocent people to further their own goals. So in some situations the
use of torture is sometimes not only justified, but essential.
Berean, Beacon. "YouTube - Catholic Inquisition and The Torture Tools." YouTube -
Broadcast Yourself. 11 Apr. 2009 <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rx8PdvOELvY#>.
Head, Tom. Is Torture Ever Justified. Raw data. Michigan, Farmington Hills. 2005.
Megans Law, Registered Sex Offenders And Background Checks. 11 Apr. 2009
<http://www.about-megans-law.com/>.
Stanley, Karnow. Vietnam: A History. New York, NY: Viking Adult, 1983.
"The Effects of Sleep Deprivation." Sleep Deprivation News and Articles. 11 Apr.
2009 <http://www.sleep-deprivation.com/articles/effects-of-sleep-deprivation/>.