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Afsan Bhuiyan
Mrs. Latham
English 2010
3/19/2015
Compromising Torture Methods in Guantanamo Bay
There are people who believe torturing POWs(prisoner of war) are justifiable to get
obtain essential information from the detainee to save other peoples lives. We live in a time
where torturing is considered to be backwards and barbaric, and thats why the Geneva
Convention was made to prevent torturing POWs. There should be possible solutions to torture
the detainees the most ethical ways that follow some of the rules of Geneva Conventions. The
torturing methods should be humane and effective at the same time.
Torturing a POW is justifiable when you want to save other peoples lives. Giving
temporary pain to the POW and extracting essential information is more beneficial than just
ignoring the POW and letting several people die. Since the POW deserves punishment for
charges of terrorism then interrogating is seen more ethical than giving him a worse punishment
such as execution. You never know when a terrorism act would occur unless you interrogated a
POW to stop any terrorist act as fast as possible. Attempting to control the detainees feelings,
and his body by torturing would most likely lead the detainee to give out honest information.
(Torture Is a Just Means) The interrogator will analyze the information the detainee gave, but
if the information is found false then the torturing of detainee continues. (Torture Is a Just
Means) Any information from detainees is important, and torture will likely force the detainees
to say the truth. If the intention is to extract essential information from a POW then torturing
him is permissible whether he is innocent or not. Also, torture will be controlled and made sure

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that misuse of the torture methods are not done. The U.S military privately tortures the
detainees, so Al Qaeda/Taliban/ISIS wouldnt use the situation with detainees in Guantanamo
Bay as a propaganda. The tortures will be kept secret and not exposed. Also, POVs shouldnt be
treated the same as a U.S soldier. The detainees want to kill U.S soldiers and are willing to die
for war, so torturing them is fine as long as you dont kill them. Showing sympathy for the
detainees wouldnt help you get any information from them.
I agree that any detainees that are charged with terrorism deserve punishment if evidence
of terrorism is found. Giving temporary pain to a detainee would be justifiable if youre going to
save lives. Just imprisoning a POW without interrogation will not do any benefit to the U.S
military of defeating their enemies. When lives of U.S soldiers are at stake then using harsh
interrogation technique on detainee is mandatory. No doubt the detainees are not innocent, so
giving them torture is justifiable. Also, you can save a lot of U.S soldiers from dying in many
battles by finding key intelligence of where the enemies are then destroying the enemy by
drones. If you know where the suicide bombers are located from interrogating a detainee then
interrogation is required because suicide bombing causes severe damage. I dont mind that
POWs get tortured, but there should be evidence of detainees with charge of terrorism. Also,
you have to make sure not to use interrogation methods that can cause a greater damage than
good in long term and short term.
First of all I understand that torturing a detainee can lead to saving many peoples lives.
However, torturing detainees will lead to Al Qaeda using the Guantanamo Bay situation on
detainees as propaganda to recruit members (Sunni Muslims). It provided grist for antiAmerican propaganda, notably by Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. In 2010, he penned a
column for Inspire magazine, in which he mentioned the crimes at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo

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which shook the conscience of humanity. (Jamie Tarabay Abu Ghraib Closes). This article
talks about how Osama Bin Ladin propagates an anti-American propaganda by talking about the
bad treatments the detainees receive at Guantanamo bay. You may think you are saving many
peoples lives, but you are just creating more insurgents and Al Qaeda members. Torture
methods used in GITMO(Guantanamo Bay) should be reduced and not be too severe ,so the
insurgents and Al Qaeda members wouldnt use the situation in GITMO as propaganda. The
U.S military should show the world how humanly the detainees are being treated to prevent
Sunni Muslims to join Al Qaeda and the insurgents because of the situation in GITMO. Also,
interrogation may cause greater harm than good. For example, Moazzam talks about Ibn alShaykh al-Libi who gave a false confession in Guantanamo Bay about how Al Qaeda is working
with Saddam Hussein who is planning on creating weapons of mass destruction which lead the
American military to go after Saddam Hussein in Iraq (CIA Torture - Guantanamo Bay). Several
American soldiers were killed because of false confession Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi gave about
Saddam. The U.S government should invest in the interrogators in GITMO by training them how
to analyze detainees information more accurately. If you train the interrogators to analyze
information from detainees more carefully then interrogators will be prevented from using false
information.
I understand that making a POW feel powerless and fearful of the interrogator can lead
the detainee to give useful and honest information. However, being abusive to the detainees
religion and culture can greatly affect the Muslim world negatively. The U.S military wants to
gain hearts of many Muslims for support against Al Qaeda and insurgents. If you abuse the
religion of the detainees then how do you expect to gain the hearts of Muslims to support you,
but rather you create more enemies. I am talking specifically about the Muslims in Iraq and

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Afghanistan who are in the war zone between the Muslim insurgents/Al Qaeda members and the
U.S military with their allies. For example, Shafiq says I had to run as fast as I could with my
legs shackled and I was bent over with a sack over my head. We were taken to another tent.
There they cut off all my clothes and forcefully shaved our beards and heads. I was taken
outside. I was completely naked with a sack on my head and I could 16 hear dogs barking nearby
and soldiers shouting get em boy.(Tipton Three) This shows how the interrogators in
Guantanamo Bay religiously abused the detainees by shaving their beards. Keeping a beard is
mandatory according to orthodox Islam which Shafiq follows. Also, showing the genital area to
anyone (other than the spouse) is prohibited in Islam. The interrogators abused Shafiq by
forcing him to get naked. The U.S military should understand the ethics of the Islamic law and
respect the non-violent religious practices of the detainees. A beard is harmless, and shaving the
beard to stop the Islamic practice of a detainee is an unappropriated act. The U.S military wants
to stop oppression in Muslim countries done by extremists. However, shaving beards of
detainees shows interrogators oppressing their religion which will give a negative image of the
U.S. You can though shave off their heads or any other body parts that are permissible in Islam to
humiliate the detainees. Stripping the detainees till they are naked is an act of forced
homosexuality, perverseness, and sexual abuse according to the Islamic law. Since seeing another
man naked for perverseness is despised among Muslims which the interrogators must
understand. The Muslim detainees must have clothing which they can pray five times at least
even if they are being humiliated.
The torture methods should be effective enough to get honest information out of
detainees. No doubt the detainee deserves punishment if the detainee was charged with terrorism.
I just hope that the U.S government could consider reducing some of the torture methods that

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disrespect the detainees religion and culture. While information from the detainee save lives we
must not create more enemies from unnecessary torture on detainees. Lets get better
interrogators, so the U.S military does not fall into the trap of following false confessions.
Making the interrogations more humane will not only be effective, but the enemies encountered
will be reduce and religious tensions amongst Muslims will decrease. There is no problem with
interrogating detainees, but the interrogation must be done humanly as possible and effectively.

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Work Cited
"Report: Tipton Three Detention in Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay." Center for Constitution
RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Feb. 2015.
<http://ccrjustice.org/tipton-three>.
"Torture Is a Just Means of Preventing Terrorism." Idebate.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2015.
<http://securingliberty.idebate.org/arguments/torture>.
Brand, Russell. "CIA Torture - Guantanamo Bay." YouTube. YouTube, 15 Dec. 2014. Web. 22
Feb. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sl7ojcIj8E>.
Tarabay, Jamie, J.T. "Abu Ghraib Closes, Bitter Memories of Torture Remain | Al Jazeera
America." Abu Ghraib Closes. Al Jazeera, 16 Apr. 2014. Web. 27 Jan. 2015.
<http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/4/15/abu-ghraib-s-infamousend.html>.