Majority of citizens in 25 nations oppose torture on moral grounds

[struggle4progress]

Dec 9, 2008 23:43 | Updated Dec 10, 2008 2:43
By ALLISON HOFFMAN, THE JERUSALEM POST, NEW YORK

A majority of people surveyed in 25 nations oppose the use of torture in all circumstances because it is immoral, according to data released Tuesday.

The French and the British are likeliest to support clear rules banning the practice, with 82 percent of respondents in both countries saying any use of torture weakens human rights standards.

Indians were the likeliest to support the use of torture in circumstances where innocent lives could be saved, at 59%, while majorities in Kenya, Nigeria, South Korea and Turkey agreed.

"Some people were ready to make exceptions, but very few said they were ready to abandon the prohibition against torture - it's not limitless," said Steven Kull, director of World Public Opinion, a project of the University of Maryland-based Program on International Policy Attitudes ... http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1228728129883&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

[ixion]

1. torture is immoral and inhumane, no exceptions

it is a fallacy that "innocent lives could be saved" by using torture.

Can we for once in our worthless existence act like something other than Barbarians? We seem incapable of doing so.