The principle which the supporters of torture rely on is that "it’s useful in the interest of the majority”, according to hypothetical scenarios (that many consider unlikely) that are used to “manipulate the emotions of the public opinion”, explained Bukhari-de-Pontual. The most commonly used one is that of the "time bomb": if an alleged terrorist who might have primed that bomb were caught, would it be legitimate to torture him to wring a confession out of him and thus save many people’s lives? The theorist, Alan Dershowitz, lecturer at Harvard, actually claims that "a human being must be hurt to save mankind, so it is preferable to regulate torture and put it under the control of the judiciary”. And the US government, said the speaker, even developed a number of documents the so-called “torture papers” which “try to justify the unenforceability of international law, so as to legalise and legitimise a number of cruel, inhuman and degrading practices”. (continued)
