Torture is never ever a option!
Well in the only god blessed country it seems to be normal and widely tolerated, they run torture camps outside the country. This is well known.
What a good thing that the former president of this country closed Guantanamo, oh wait he only say he will do ...
Remember the Inqisition, the Witch-trails ... and the results?
Civilized humanity can never tolerate torture!
Yes I agree with you to a certain degree and that's why I found the account personally troubling.
So in that scenario what would be your position? Would you try and talk it through with the car thief hoping he would the relinquish the information in time? If that was my child then I would use whatever means necessary to gain access to its whereabouts.
It's a bit of an unfair 'straw man' argument I've made in favour of torture, it would be hard to justify the examples of torture you've cited.
As I say before, toture is not an option - the history teach us.
I also sometimes think: you should spank him so that he speak the truth. But stop Walter, you break the law. And, hell when I break the law how can I expect that others don't do it?
What if the one under torture is pushed to blame me?
Torture is arbitrary. With torture you can get results you want.
Can you, would you, trust in results that based on toture?
Torture can never be legal, covered by a law.
Then is this case the child dies...
Maybe and that is a bad thing.
But, which 'facts' could make torture legal?
That's the point, what the police did was not legal but was it ethical? I'd say 100 % yes. Not legal or societal ethics but human ethics. They saved a child's life so the wrong outweighs the right massively.
So you say: do you make the law that suits your needs when you think you need it?
A few years ago the police in Germany were acting during an abduction in the way, they say to the accused that they would torture him. They covered his eyes, put a gun on his head, etc.
Result: The man says everything he thinks they like to hear.
Result: investigations in the wrong direction, etc. As this act became public. The results, which the police made, were not valid in court. The policemen are imprisoned.
There is only one way: A strict no to torture.
There can be no 'relative' laws.
I think 'law' is the issue then. I would say there needs to be some movement where circumstance calls for extreme measures, who decides this, who knows?
Breaking it down as simple as I can... if I could save the life of a child by inflicting pain on somebody obviously guilty of the crime then yes I would, If that is seen as torture then so be it. It's a troubling quandary because it's a debate whether right or wrong are the same as legal or illegal and I'd say in this case the constraints of legality should be breached in order for the 'right' outcome.