To the Editor:
Re “Nearly Half From U.S. in Poll Say Torture Can Be Useful” (news article, Dec. 5): It is troubling that 46 percent of Americans believe that torture can be used to extract information from an enemy combatant. In 1764, Cesare Beccaria’s founding work of modern legal philosophy, “On Crimes and Punishments,” called for the abolition of torture not only because it is immoral but also because it simply doesn’t work.
“Torture is not a fit means of discovering the truth,” he asserted, because “convulsions of torture” encourage the victim to say anything to “make the pain stop.”
Thanks to Beccaria’s writings and those of other Enlightenment philosophers, many countries abolished torture in the 18th century, and it is now prohibited by international law. That so many Americans do not seem to be aware of this is alarming and suggests that our country is at risk of abandoning fundamental principles of justice.
We must educate and remain vigilant. As a historian of the 18th century, I think that it’s important to speak out.
MICHAEL KWASS
Baltimore
The writer is a professor of history at Johns Hopkins.
Note from KBJ: Here's the scenario. Police officers have in their custody a man whom they have good reason to believe has planted a high-powered bomb in a major metropolitan area. The bomb is set to go off in two hours, which is not enough time to clear the area. If the bomb goes off, it will kill tens of thousands of innocent people. The man won't talk. The police believe that if they torture him, he may tell them where the bomb is located in time for them to defuse it. Not knowing whether it it permissible to torture the man, the police call Michael Kwass, whose extended family, friends, and colleagues are within the bomb's range. "Is it permissible for us to torture the man?," they ask. Kwass is committed by his own principles to saying no. Notice that he has every right to sacrifice himself for his principles. He has no right to sacrifice his family, his friends, his colleagues, or any of the tens of thousands of others. Can you say "moral retard"?
