Americans Are More Afraid of Being Tortured By Our Government than
British, Australians, Canadians ... Or Even Chinese

05/21/2014

Amnesty International conducted a global survey 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:

USA 32% strongly/somewhat disagree 66% strongly/somewhat agree
Chile 30% strongly/somewhat disagree 45% strongly/somewhat agree
Germany 30% strongly/somewhat disagree 66% strongly/somewhat agree
China 25% strongly/somewhat disagree 72% strongly/somewhat agree
Canada 21% strongly/somewhat disagree 77% strongly/somewhat agree
Australia 16% strongly/somewhat disagree 83% strongly/somewhat agree
UK 15% strongly/somewhat disagree 83% strongly/somewhat agree

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.

Indeed, majorities in all but 5 countries say torture is never
acceptable:

China: 25% disagreed / 74% agreed
India: 16% disagreed / 74% agreed
Kenya: 33% disagreed / 66% agreed
Nigeria: 34% disagreed / 64% agreed
Pakistan: 42% disagreed / 56% agreed
Indonesia: 46% disagreed / 50% agreed
USA: 45% disagreed / 53% agreed
Peru: 55% disagreed / 40% agreed
Turkey: 65% disagreed / 32% agreed
Mexico: 67% disagreed / 29% agreed
UK: 70% disagreed / 29% agreed
S. Korea 71% disagreed / 27% agreed
Russia: 66% disagreed / 25% agreed
Canada: 74% disagreed / 25% agreed

Given that it is universally known by top interrogation experts 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.

http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2012/...-debunked.html

Postscript: Multiple polls show that Americans are more afraid of our
own government than of terrorists. Given that the American government
has gone somewhat rogue, and that Americans are afraid that they may be
tortured if taken into custody, trust in the government will likely only
continue to decrease.

http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2013/...errorists.html

http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2014/...ional-era.html

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http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed...-australians-c