[News] BBC poll: World against torture, Jews in Israel in favor
Anti-Imperialist News
news at freedomarchives.org
Mon Oct 23 12:31:16 EDT 2006
One-third support 'some torture'
Nearly a third of people worldwide back the use
of torture in prisons in some circumstances, a BBC survey suggests.
Although 59% were opposed to torture, 29% thought
it acceptable to use some degree of torture to combat terrorism.
While most polled in the US are against torture,
opposition there is less robust than in Europe and elsewhere.
More than 27,000 people in 25 countries were
asked if torture would be acceptable if it could
provide information to save innocent lives.
Some 36% of those questioned in the US agreed
that this use of torture was acceptable, while
58% were unwilling to compromise on human rights.
The percentage favouring torture in certain cases
makes it one of the highest of all the countries polled.
The majority of those questioned in the BBC World
Service poll - 19 of the 25 countries surveyed -
agree that clear rules against torture in prisons
should be maintained because it is immoral and
its use would weaken human rights standards.
"The dominant view around the world is that
terrorism does not warrant bending the rules
against torture," said Steven Kull, director of
the Program on International Policy Attitudes
(PIPA), whose organisation helped conduct the survey.
Saving lives?
All of the countries surveyed have signed up to
the Geneva Conventions which prohibit the use of
torture and cruel and degrading behaviour.
But countries that face political violence are
more likely to accept the idea that some degree
of torture is permissible because of the extreme threat posed by terrorists.
Israel has the largest percentage of those polled
endorsing the use of a degree of torture on
prisoners, with 43% saying they agreed that some
degree of torture should be allowed.
However, a larger percentage - 48% - think it should remain prohibited.
The question
Most countries have agreed to rules prohibiting
torturing prisoners. Which position is closer to yours?
Terrorists pose such an extreme threat that
governments should now be allowed to use some
degree of torture if it may gain information that saves innocent lives
Clear rules against torture should be maintained
because any use of torture is immoral and will
weaken international human rights
Other countries that polled higher levels of
acceptance of the use of torture include Iraq
(42%), the Philippines (40%), Indonesia (40%), Russia (37%) and China (37%).
The Israeli figure conceals a stark difference in
attitude within the country, split along religious lines.
A majority of Jewish respondents in Israel, 53%,
favour allowing governments to use some degree of
torture to obtain information from those in
custody, while 39% want clear rules against it.
But Muslims in Israel, who represent 16% of the
total number polled, are overwhelmingly against any use of torture.
Meanwhile opposition to the practise is highest
in Italy, where 81% of those questioned think torture is never justified.
Australia, France, Canada, the UK and Germany
also registered high levels of opposition to any use of torture.
The survey was carried out for the BBC World
Service by polling firm Globescan and the Program
on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA).
Views on torturing prisoners
Country Against all torture * Some degree permissible * Neither/Don't Know
Australia 75% 22% 3%
Brazil 61% 32% 8%
Canada 74% 22% 4%
Chile 62% 22% 16%
China 49% 37% 13%
Egypt 65% 25% 9%
France 75% 19% 6%
Germany 71% 21% 7%
Gt Britain 72% 24% 4%
India 23% 32% 45%
Indonesia 51% 40% 8%
Iraq 55% 42% 1%
Israel 48% 43% 9%
Italy 81% 14% 6%
Kenya 53% 38% 9%
Mexico 50% 24% 27%
Nigeria 49% 39% 12%
Philippines 56% 40% 5%
Poland 62% 27% 12%
Russia 43% 37% 19%
S Korea 66% 31% 3%
Spain 65% 16% 19%
Turkey 62% 24% 14%
Ukraine 54% 29% 18%
US 58% 36% 7%
Average 59% 29% 12%
*27,000 respondents in 25 countries were asked
which position was closer to their own views:
* Clear rules against torture should be
maintained because any use of torture is immoral
and will weaken international human rights standards against torture.
* Terrorists pose such an extreme threat that
governments should now be allowed to use some
degree of torture if it may gain information that saves innocent lives.
Source: BBC/Globescan/PIPA
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/6063386.stm
Published: 2006/10/19 02:07:46 GMT
© BBC MMVI
The Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 863-9977
www.freedomarchives.org
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20061023/767c4c22/attachment.htm>
More information about the News
mailing list