Terrorism cannot be fought with arbitrary arrests,
disappearances, trial detentions or torture.
The condition to achieve global security is respect
for human rights.
If the banning of torture and mistreatment
is violated, what are the chances of protecting
any other human right?
Believing that torture can be justified in some
circumstances, means to believe that the aim
always justifies the means. This line of argument
is very similar to what terrorists often
say to justify their attacks.
War on terrorism is the excuse for many
governments to continue to practice
undisturbed, good old repression. More over,
tolerance or indifference against human rights
violations is growing when the final aim is cited
as fighting terrorism.
The only way to face this situation is to set
standards prohibiting any kind of inhuman
treatment. We can’t defend what we support
by subverting our moral values. And we can’t fight
terrorism using state terror.
