Transparent torture
This week’s 4 Corners story on torture was fairly thought-provoking. The one question it didn’t ask of the pro-torture interviewees that feels lacking is this: if it’s necessary and even OK to torture people, why do you need to hide it?
The two obvious answers to that are either (a) they don’t think they’d be able to retain public support for their behaviour if it were widely acknowledged and on the record; or (b) they are themselves ashamed of it and would rather people didn’t know.
If it’s OK to torture then it should be a matter of public record. Who was tortured, how, where, by whom, and what was the outcome? They should be required to operate within a strict set of legal rules, justifying the desire to torture to a judge in order to receive a warrant, and reporting back to that judge at regular intervals and at the conclusion of the process.
If it’s going to happen, better that it happen in the light of day. Maybe that’d prompt a few cockroaches to go running for cover.
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Hi! Thanks for the links in the blogroll — I noticed them via Technorati.
K.