Criminal Minds

I read an essay in college on why torture should be allowed in certain situations. Say the suspect has a victim who will die unless the police get information from him. Or if a bomb will go off and kill many innocent people. If it can prevent a larger loss, why not? The essay was persuasive, and I found myself thinking, “Yeah, why not, if it will save people?”
Why not? Because it doesn’t work. This year Human Rights First created an award for awareness of human rights and torture on television. This award is intended to combat the image of torture we get from tv. Mentioned specifically is 24. In shows like this, torture is almost glamorized. The good guys need information and a few minutes of torture gets this for them so they can save the day. In reality, this intense, agonizing pain lasts and lasts.

Nominated are:
Criminal Minds episode “Lessons Learned.” In this episode, Agents Gideon, Prentiss, and Reid travel to Guantanamo Bay to interrogate a detainee who has information on an imminent terrorist attack. The CIA had been unable to get the detainee to even speak to them, even though they used violent measures. Gideon talks to the man, and by using his intellect, is able to get the man to talk to him.
Human Rights First nominated “Lessons Learned” because it depicts sophisticated techniques garner more information than torture.
The Closer is also nominated for this reason.

On the flip side, The Shield is nominated for depicting torture in a realistic way. Vic Mackey, the show’s main character, is a cop who on occasion bends the rules (by “bends,” I mean he kills people and works with drug dealers and stuff). Anyway, he is torturing a man whom he believes has information on who killed his partner. He beats him with a chain. I haven’t seen this episode, but The Shield can be very disturbing, so I’m sure it’s hard to watch.

The winner of this award will be named on October 15, so I’ll update you on who wins. Among the judges are two former interrogators: Joe Navarro (formerly with the FBI) and Tony Lagouranis (formerly with the Army). So when they say that the nonviolent techniques are more effective, they have the experience and knowledge to know what they’re talking about.

The Human Rights First website is very informative - and they have a section called “Take Action,” where you can read about Human Rights issues and actually do something about them.

National Public Radio also had a story on this subject, with the producer of The Shield episode which was nominated, Adam Fierro, as well as intelligence expert Col. Stuart Herrington. If you go to the NPR website, you can hear the story (just click on National Public Radio above). One interesting thing on this program was when they talked about shows like 24. In them, there is always an emergency and they need the info right away, so they have to resort to torture. Col. Herrington said that he had never been in a situation like that during his entire career. It just didn’t happen like that, he said, but young recruits watching the shows get the idea that is exactly how it happens. That’s another reason Human Rights First created this award - in reality, talking and nonviolent strategies will get more information than torture.

(I had no intention of insulting 24 - check out Watching 24 for more info on the show)