Last week at the Rose Cafe we were fortunate enough to welcome Nick Cheesman, from Australian National University and his research companion, Pornpen, an activist from Thailand, to talk about torture in South East Asia. We spoke about torture, how effective/not effective it is, and how it imposes on people’s rights. I did not know the topic of the talk going into the cafe, and did not expect such a heavy topic; the rose cafe’s are normally light-hearted and mildly academic related.
I was very interested in Cheesman and Pornpen’s viewpoint about why torture still occurs. Pornpen stated that her research points to the idea that torture is a cathartic way of dealing with an issue without solving the core of the problem. I find this statement really accurate, as it also explains the concept of scapegoats.
In addition, one of the most interesting questions asked during this cafe was the question “Does torture work.” Cheesman stressed that this question itself was dangerous. Furthermore, despite various political assertions recently that torture is effective, Cheesman stated that this was not true. I completely agree with Cheesman’s statement, and find the amount of people who do not agree, and the fact that our own president does not agree with Cheesman’s viewpoint very disturbing. Perhaps this is a product of propaganda in our society? For example, the fact that torture is shown to be so effective in movies and plays, etc.
After this question was asked, Cheesman proceeded to warn us that he would begin to talk about something disturbing, and we were welcome to leave. As I am someone who was feeling uncomfortable, I left at this point.
I also felt one of the most thought-provoking parts of the conversation was the discussion of the question of torture’s effectiveness. I think your suggestion that misconceptions about torture in our society are due to propaganda found in many forms of media today is very interesting. It makes me wonder if changing the depictions of torture in films etc. could be a way to produce a meaningful change in our society’s political opinions on this topic.
Either you have misunderstood his point, or I have. I don’t believe Cheesman ever explicitly said or agreed with the statement that “torture doesn’t work”. I think he wants to avoid that question because of the ominous possibility that it does “work”. However, just because something “works” doesn’t mean it should be done. For instance, an analogy would be to say: This person is annoying me. Will this person leave me alone if I kill them? The answer is yes, that person could not talk to you if they were not alive. However, that does not mean it is an effective strategy. Similarly, torture should not be considered an effective strategy just because it “works”.