Ethical Arguments Regarding Torture - Ticking Time Bomb Scenario

Ticking Time Bomb Scenario

In law enforcement, one perceived argument is the necessity of force to extract information from a suspect when regular interrogation yields no results and time is of the essence, as can be seen in the most frequently cited theoretical example is the "ticking time bomb" scenario, where a known terrorist has planted a nuclear bomb. In such circumstances, it has been argued, that not to use torture would be wrong, and by others that using torture would change society in a manner which would be worse.

The obvious rebuttal to this stance is that no such scenario has ever existed. In addition, those situations resembling such a case were resolved without the need to torture any suspect. Furthermore, it is asked whether torture would be limited to suspects, or whether one could torture the family and friends of this detainee to make him compliant.

• Supporters cite cases where torture has worked:

In the case of Magnus Gäfgen, who was suspected of kidnapping 11-year-old Jakob von Metzler and arrested in October 2002 by German police. Police surveillance had observed Gäfgen pick up a €1 million ransom demanded from the von Metzler family and proceed to go on a spending spree. After the ransom was paid, the boy was not released. Fearing for the boy's safety Frankfurt's deputy police chief, Wolfgang Daschner, had Gäfgen arrested and when he would not talk threatened to cause Gäfgen severe pain. Gäfgen told police where he had hidden von Metzler's body. In this case torture was threatened, but not used, to extract information that, in other circumstances, could have saved a boy's life. The ethical question is whether this can ever be justified. Wolfgang Daschner felt that in the circumstances it was justified. German Chancellor Merkel, in an interview on January 9, 2006 in reference to the Metzler case stated "The public debate showed that the overwhelming majority of citizens believed that even in such a case, the end does not justify the means. That is also my position."

• Opponents, on the other hand, cite cases of rampant abuse: for example, in Chile and Argentina in the 1970s and 1980s thousands of people "disappeared" and were tortured or killed or both.

Beyond that, another reason is that torture fails to elicit the expected information because the subject is saying anything interrogators want to hear to stop the ordeal (or deliberately lies to waste the interrogators' time and make it more likely the bomb will go off), or worse: the detainee is innocent. By adopting a "the ends justifies the means" approach this would allow nine innocent people to be tortured as long as the tenth offered a full confession.

It has been estimated that as few as two dozen of the 600 detainees at Guantanamo had any potential intelligence value even if it could be obtained from them.