A recent survey by the BBC shows the sentiments towards torture in different countries.
I feel sad that the two countries that I am associated with: Israel and the U.S. are so high on the torture approval list. And between them is Russia which is confidently marching on the path towards authoritarianism.
I am a privileged citizen among globally oppressive regimes.
I wonder if there’s any correlation between terror levels in certain countries and its citizens’ acceptance of torture.
I also wonder what was the exact question presented at the survey. Did it relate to ‘torture’ in general or to torture of ‘ticking bombs’ and the like?
This is the exact question:
Which position was closer to your own views?
* Clear rules against torture should be maintained because any use of torture is immoral and will weaken international human rights standards against torture.
* Terrorists pose such an extreme threat that governments should now be allowed to use some degree of torture if it may gain information that saves innocent lives.