Why Is Torture Unjustifiable?

According to advocates against torture, torturers rather treat as a thing than a person. ... Torture, in this way, violates the human dignity and rights of the victim. However, the acts of torture do not only harm the victims, but it also damages the moral reputation of the government and institution that carries it out.

How is torture justified?

“No exceptional circumstances whatsoever,” says Article 2, “whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture.” In 1990, the U.S. Senate ratified the Torture Convention.

Why is torture an ethical issue?

Torture is morally unjustified, therefore, because it “dehumanizes people by treating them as pawns to be manipulated through their pain” (xii). This perspective is reflected in the absolute moral imperatives laid out in various international conventions.