Nowadays terrorism is one of the most urgent issues to be addressed. The events of 9/11/2001 became the turning point and changed the perspectives of the Untied States of America in the conduct of war. Since the Global War on Terror has been initiated, the American militaries have been accused of and, in some cases, admitted that they used torture as a technique to gain more information for the military operations. Currently there are supporters and those who oppose such method. It is necessary to admit the fact that in some cases it has allowed to save many lives, but as being prohibited by national legislation of many countries and international organizations rules, it should be applied only in emergent cases (Heymann, 2002).
Torture is “the act of inflicting excruciating pain, as punishment or revenge, as a means of getting a confession or information, or for sheer cruelty (Torture).” Torture should not be confused with ill-treatment. Sometimes the term “ill-treatment” is used to address both torture and some other methods which are aimed at abuse, which is prohibited by international laws. However, there is a legal difference between “torture” and “ill-treatment” and this difference is defined by the level of suffering and severity of pain which is experienced by the detainee. It is also necessary to pay attention to the fact that torture is aimed at some specific purpose, for example getting some information (What is the definition of torture and ill treatment?).
According to Geneva Conventions and some rules of the United Nations, “every person in enemy hands must have some status under international law: he is either a prisoner of war and, as such, covered by the Third Convention, a civilian covered by the Fourth Convention, or again, a member of the medical personnel of the armed forces who is covered by the First Convention. There is no intermediate status; nobody in enemy hands can be outside the law (Convention (IV) relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War).”
Torture is also prohibited by the Fifth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments of the USA Constitution The United States of America is also a participant of the Convention again torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. The Convention was organized by the United Nations General Assembly in 1984 and in four years the President Ronald Reagan signed it. In two more years the convention was ratified by the Senate (Yee, 2004; Pryer, 2011).
In 1948 the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was developed and adopted by the members of the United Nations. The Declaration became the first law which prohibited application of the torture in all the countries-members of the United Nations.
However, it is necessary to pay attention to the fact that practice shows this prohibition to be limited because the Universal declaration of Human Rights did not pass official ratification and officially it does not have character which would be legally binding in terms of international legislation, although the Declaration is always referred to as a …