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The Validity Of Torture

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Torture as a form of interrogation dates back to 530AD, when Roman jurists espoused the virtues of torture as “the highest form of truth” (Ross, 2005, p. 4). Greek legal orator Demosthenes believed that “no statements made as a result of torture have ever been proved untrue”. Torture can be defined as an act inflicting mental or physical pain and suffering in order to obtain information, punish, intimidate or for any reason from a person or a third person. The 20th Century saw a revival of torture techniques against perceived opponents of the state, and priority was given to state security. The Stalinist regime of the 1930s used torture to instil terror into the population, marking a convergence away from its traditional use to generate confessions (Green, 2011). …show more content…

Many also doubted the validity of information given under torture, and Dutch lawyer Antonius Matthaeus II questioned whether there is a possibility that “the accused person’s perception of truth would be skewed under torture” In 1984, action was finally taken against torture and torture was announced to be illegal in United States, as well as 74 other countries under an international convention, the UN Convention on Torture against Torture, which was adopted by the UN General Assembly. Since then, there has been many arguments regarding whether the convention would prove beneficial or disadvantageous to our

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