Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2014-12-17-Speech-3-556-000"
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"en.20141217.63.3-556-000"2
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"Mr President, this Feinstein report and the extracts from it have cast a dark cloud over the US’s reputation as a defender of democracy and freedom. It has cast a shadow over security services that are supposed to protect the citizens of the world and, as President Obama said himself, the image of the US has been tarnished. Indeed the report has thrown up many questions for European citizens, as well as European governments.
When you condone the use of torture and extreme methods of interrogation, and when you ignore the very values that you are trying to defend, you give fuel to those extremists who are looking for weaknesses. The fight against terrorism is a fight about values and acting contrary to those values is therefore not just wrong but is counterproductive.
The justification of ISIS and similar terror groups is that they are fighting a just war against a powerful tyrant. Torture to the extent that it was spelled out in this report gives fuel to that notion. What message does it send to those who are intent on killing innocent civilians, beheading charity workers and killing aimlessly? The message we send is that there are no limits to depravity. Not only do we fail in our standards of humanity, but we encourage others to disregard human life and suffering.
We may now face a scenario whereby seemingly dangerous men and women who are currently detained can use this report to prove that they were tortured to the point of becoming psychologically unstable and their admissions and evidence can no longer be relied on. One could question how many other ongoing trials will face disruption due to the revelations in this report.
There are those who argue that the end justifies the means when it comes to protecting our lives. Indeed the
reported that a new poll shows that 51 % of Americans described the CIA torture methods as justified in that they gleaned information that prevented terrorist attacks.
We have the Geneva Convention, the UN Convention on Human Rights and torture conventions. We must not allow these conventions that have been ratified by nearly every country in the world, including the United States, to be set aside and to be rewritten to serve an end. We must not allow standards of humanity at times of conflict to be neglected. We must show leadership in democratic states. We should all lead by example and not stoop to the depraved levels of some terrorist organisations.
Justice must be seen to be done from this report. The courts must be allowed to respond and to deal with the findings of this report."@en1
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