Torture Position Paper

Ms. Neale
Isaiah Christoffel
Heraclio Roman

10/29
10th Period

As representatives of France we come to the UN with a serious topic. Torture is a

problem that is rising in countries with unstable governments. If a government is using torture as
a form of punishment, and its citizens know about it they will feel unsafe. When people feel
unsafe they usually do questionable things. Governments usually use torture as a form of
punishment or a way to retrieve information from a person that they have captive.
Every Human being on Earth should have the right to not be tortured. Torture can scar a
person emotionally and physically. If and when a country releases a tortured prisoner back into
the society they will most likely tell others. This will result in economic tensions which is the last
thing that a country needs. If a community found out that one of their own was being tortured
they would most likely react in a way that would be violent.
Although torture is cruel, the government should be able to torture peoples but only
under good reason and in the process of torture there should be a limit of the maximum amount
of torture that may be given while it still being just. Reasons for torturing a person should be for
a very good and strong reason. Examples are If there are many lives at risk and the only way of
gathering information on how to prevent it is to torture someone with the knowledge on how to
stop it. Another is if someone has committed a severe crime (such as genocide, like of the Jews
by Hitler) torture should be a punishment. And the person who is inflicting torture should only be
able to do so with permission or of having a license or something of that matter, but still must be
appointed in doing so. But we should only torture citizens of our own country for it could start
many problems with that country, which may lead to war. Also, those are those countries`
people and what we think of torture may be different than what they think of it.
People can prevent torture by being aware of their actions, what they say and who they
are with. The French Republic suggests that the UN takes more initiative in resolving the
worldwide issue of Governments torturing citizens and citizens torturing other citizens. The UN
can set up an initiative for citizens to report torture and abuse. France suggests that all the
countries in this conference make PSAs (public service announcements) to help the people of
the world feel safe and not feel in danger of being hurt physically or emotionally. France will
make sure that the people in our country are free of torture. We wont allow torture as a form of
punishment in the French Republic. France will try and help the citizens of the world know the
dangers of torture and ways that they can prevent it.