Amnesty International conducted a global survey [4] to find out how afraid people were of being tortured by their own governments if they are taken into custody.
The survey shows that the British, Australian, Canadian – and even Chinese people – are less afraid of being tortured than Americans.
Specifically, Amnesty asked whether people agreed with the following statement:
If I were taken into custody by the authorities in my country, I am confident that I would be safe from torture
Here are some of the results:
[5]
Also stunning, Amnesty found that most Americans believe that torture is never justified.
Specifically, Amnesty asked whether people agreed with the following statement:
Torture is sometimes necessary and acceptable to gain information that may protect the public
53% of Americans disagreed with that statement, and only 45% agreed:
[6]
Indeed, majorities in all but 5 countries say torture is never acceptable:
[7]
Given that it is universally known by top interrogation experts [8] that torture interferes with the ability to extract actionable intelligence from the detainee and decreases national security, it is good that people are starting to wake up to the reality that torture is never acceptable.
Postscript: Multiple polls show that Americans are more afraid of our own government than of terrorists [9]. Given that the American government has gone somewhat rogue [10], and that Americans are afraid that they may be tortured if taken into custody, trust in the government will likely only continue to decrease.