Torture acceptable in some circumstances according to 20pc of Australians, survey reveals
Updated
One in five Australians think it is acceptable to use torture to obtain military information during war, a Red Cross survey has found.
The survey found Australian men were more likely than women to agree that captured soldiers can be tortured to obtain information.
Overall, 24 per cent of men think Australian soldiers can be tortured as opposed to 18 per cent of women, while people aged under 20 or over 65 were less likely to support torture.
World War II veteran Keith Campbell has expressed shock at the survey results.
The RAAF bomber was captured by the Germans after his plane collided with another aircraft while doing bombing runs, and he became a prisoner of war.
While he was never personally subjected to, or witnessed any torture at the camps he was held at, he believes "it went on because the German SS were noted for it".
But the 93-year-old says he finds it "appalling" that so many Australians approve of using torture against either Australian or enemy soldiers.
"My personal views of torture are that it's quite barbaric," he said.
"There's absolutely no excuse to torture any person, no matter what their nationality or beliefs.
"A person is a person and doesn't deserve to be ill-treated to that extent to obtain information. Certainly I appreciate information is vital, but to subject a human being to such conditions I don't think is acceptable.
"I think it's appalling that an Australian person could condone torture."
'Torture is illegal'
The Australian survey coincides with a global report by the International Committee of the Red Cross which found overwhelming support for the laws of war designed to protect civilians and healthcare.
Australian Red Cross CEO Judy Slatyer says the local survey shows that while most Australians care very much about their fellow human beings, others needed to better understand why humanitarian laws and values matter.
"Torture is illegal and unacceptable in any circumstances," she said.
"It has a devastating impact on those tortured as well as our collective humanity.
"The good news for us is that the vast majority of Australians believe torture is wrong. Having said that, 21 per cent thought it was OK to torture an Australian soldier, which we found quite shocking."
While the survey did not ask people to explain why they held that view, Ms Slatyer said there could be several factors contributing to it.
These include living in an age of terrorism, the "saturation of gruesome images every evening on the television news" and rhetoric which "creates fear", and also a view in popular culture that torture is normal.
"But I think as we all know, torture is prohibited in international law around the world for good reason," she said.
"It's a stain on our humanity. It generates hatred and triggers cycles of violence and research shows the information obtained through torture is not always reliable.
"The reason we wanted to draw attention to it was because now is an important time to remind Australians that having limits to war and conflict are important.
"And those closest to war are the ones who believe most strongly that wars should have limits and it's time to draw the line on these sorts of things.
"It's important we talk about it and remind ourselves of the things that we used to hold dear decades ago after World War II are still important as we go forward as a society."
Topics: ethics, community-and-society, unrest-conflict-and-war, australia
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