Third of Indians favour some torture to fight terrorism

New Delhi, Oct 19 (UNI) A third of Indians believe some degree of torture of prisoners is acceptable to combat terrorism, a stance taken by the same number of people worldwide, says a BBC survey.

In India, one of the 25 countries where the survey was conducted by the BBC World Service, 32 per cent of all respondents said some degree of torture was permissible.

Nearly half of those in India who were asked the question if torture was acceptable if it could provide information to save innocent lives did not have an affirmative view on the need for such a step.

Forty-five per cent of the respondents in India said they were against all forms of torture and also did not think it should be allowed in some degree. The figure also included those who did not have any opinion.

Nearly a quarter of Indians (23 per cent), however, said they were against any form of torture of prisoners against a high global average of 59 per cent of anti-torture advocates.

Around the world, 29 per cent thought torture can be permitted to combat terrorism while 12 per cent did not have any opinion, says the survey.

Italians were the most opposed to torture with 81 per cent of them saying there were against all forms of torture, followed by Australians and the French at 75 per cent, Canadians (74 per cent), Britons (72 per cent) and Germans (71 per cent).

Fifty-nine per cent of Americans said they were against torture.

More than 27,000 people in 25 countries were asked if torture was acceptable if it could provide information to save innocent lives.

Some 36 per cent of those questioned in the US agreed that the use of torture up to some degree was acceptable, while 58 per cent were unwilling to compromise on human rights, the survey says.

The majority of the respondents say 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,'' says Steven Kull, director of the Programme on International Policy Attitudes, which helped conduct the survey.

All of the countries surveyed were signatories of the Geneva Conventions which prohibit the use of torture and cruel and degrading behaviour.

Countries, which 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, says the survey.

Israel has the largest percentage of those polled endorsing the use of a degree of torture on prisoners, with 43 per cent saying they agreed that some degree of torture should be allowed. But Muslims in Israel, who represented 16 per cent of the total respondents, were overwhelmingly against any use of torture, says the survey.

Other countries that polled higher levels of acceptance of the use of torture included Iraq (42 per cent), the Philippines (40 per cent), Indonesia (40 per cent), Russia and China (37 per cent each).

Those participating in the survey 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.

UNI FZ YA SSC1337