World public rejects torture
July 2008: A new poll has found that 14 out of 19 nations favour an unequivocal rule against torture, even in the case of terrorists who have information that could save innocent lives.
A new poll has found that 14 out of 19 nations favour an unequivocal rule against torture, even in the case of terrorists who have information that could save innocent lives. Four nations lean toward favouring an exception in the case of terrorists.
However, large majorities in all 19 nations favour a general prohibition against torture. In all nations polled, the number of people who said the government should generally be able to use torture is less than one in five.
The poll results were released by WorldPublicOpinion.org, a worldwide network of research centres coordinated by the University of Maryland, to coincide with of International Victims of Torture Day (June 26).
Across all the nations polled, an average of 57 per cent people opted for unequivocal rules against torture. Thirty-five per cent favour an exception when innocent lives are at risk. Just nine per cent favour the government being able to use torture in general.
The four nations that favor an exception for terrorists when innocent lives are at risk include majorities in India (59%), Nigeria (54%), and Turkey (51%), and a plurality in Thailand (44%).
Support for the unequivocal position was highest in Spain (82%), Great Britain (82%) and France (82%), followed by Mexico (73%), China (66%), the Palestinian territories (66%), Poland (62%), Indonesia (61%), and the Ukraine (59%).
Amnesty International's 2008 State of the World Report documents numerous cases of torture by governments around the world, including cases where governments actively use torture and cases where governments have failed to take action against police or other officials who have used torture.
The idea that torture by governments is basically wrong is widely shared in all corners of the world. Even the scenario one hears of terrorists holding information that could save innocent lives is rejected as a justification for torture in most countries,” said Steven Kull, Director of WorldPublicOpinion.org.
The poll of 19,063 respondents was conducted in 19 nations, including most of the largest countries –China, India, the United States, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Russia – as well as Mexico, Britain, France, Poland, Spain, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Egypt, the Palestinian territories, Iran, Turkey, Thailand and South Korea. These nations represent 60 per cent of the world population.
The Geneva-based Association for the Prevention of Torture (APT) was another organisation to mark International Victims of Torture Day.
“No act is a greater denial of the inherent dignity of every individual than torture,” the APT said in a statement. “Torture aims to strip the individual of the very qualities on which human rights are based.”
The APT reflected on the many significant steps taken by the international community to ban torture throughout the last sixty years, following the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948.
Two major milestones include the adoption of the UN Convention against Torture in 1984 and the Convention’s ground-breaking Optional Protocol in 2002, which requires States to set up a national-level system of regular visits to all places of detention by independent experts.
“Regular monitoring both deters potential torturers, who know the door could be opened at any moment, and ensures that systems in places of detention respect the dignity of every detainee,” said the APT.
National human rights institutions (NHRIs) have a central role to play in opposing torture by ensuring governments uphold their obligation to respect international human rights standards; conducting regular visits to detention facilities and monitoring conditions; investigating complaints; and providing education and training to police, military and other sectors of the community.
The APT has worked in partnership with the APF to deliver torture prevention training programs for APF member institutions, including the national human rights commissions of Thailand, South Korea and the Maldives. The three-day program provides NHRI staff with the knowledge, skills and processes required to monitor places of detention and investigate allegations of torture.
The APT is currently in the process of developing a torture prevention manual for use by APF member institutions.
Find out more
- WorldPublicOpinion.org
- Association for the Prevention of Torture
- Advisory Council of
Jurists: Report on Torture (published 2005; includes proposed set
of Minimum Interrogation Standards)
