Torture
President Donald Trump has claimed that torture “absolutely” works. But what evidence is there of this? And can its use ever be justified?
In his first TV interview as US President, Donald Trump claimed that torture “absolutely” works and said the US should “fight fire with fire.”
But what evidence is there that torture is an effective method of obtaining valuable intelligence? And can the use of torture ever be justified?
Becky Milligan hears from a former interrogator who worked at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and now calls himself a torturer, a former political prisoner who was tortured in the notorious Evin prison in Tehran, and a neuroscientist who has studied the effects of torture on the brain.
(Photo:Man sitting in chair with hands tied together behind his back with a bucket on the floor. Credit: Rommel Canlas/Shutterstock)
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Does torture work?
Duration: 01:01
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- Fri 3 Feb 201719:32GMTBBC World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only
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- Mon 6 Feb 201702:32GMTBBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean
- Mon 6 Feb 201703:32GMTBBC World Service Online, Europe and the Middle East & UK DAB/Freeview only
- Mon 6 Feb 201704:32GMTBBC World Service East Asia & South Asia only
- Mon 6 Feb 201705:32GMTBBC World Service Australasia
- Mon 6 Feb 201707:32GMTBBC World Service East and Southern Africa & Europe and the Middle East only
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