I don’t quite understand what ‘to some degree permissible’ is supposed to mean when talking about torture. Even the most enthusiastic of sadists might recoil somewhat at the possibility of torture being absolutely permissible. I mean, imagine getting your fingernails pulled out with a pair of pliers because you had some hydrogen peroxide and an iPod in your handbag and you were suspected of being a bomb maker.
Anyway, the BBC did a report on a survey conducted on global attitudes towards torture. It had a table showing countries in alphabetical order. Here are the countries in order of the percentage who think torture ought to be permitted.
| Country | Some degree permissible * | Against all torture * | Neither/Don’t Know | ||||||
| Israel | 43% | 48% | 9% | ||||||
| Iraq | 42% | 55% | 1% | ||||||
| Indonesia | 40% | 51% | 8% | ||||||
| Philippines | 40% | 56% | 5% | ||||||
| Nigeria | 39% | 49% | 12% | ||||||
| Kenya | 38% | 53% | 9% | ||||||
| China | 37% | 49% | 13% | ||||||
| Russia | 37% | 43% | 19% | ||||||
| US | 36% | 58% | 7% | ||||||
| Brazil | 32% | 61% | 8% | ||||||
| India | 32% | 23% | 45% | ||||||
| S Korea | 31% | 66% | 3% | ||||||
| Ukraine | 29% | 54% | 18% | ||||||
| Poland | 27% | 62% | 12% | ||||||
| Egypt | 25% | 65% | 9% | ||||||
| Gt Britain | 24% | 72% | 4% | ||||||
| Mexico | 24% | 50% | 27% | ||||||
| Turkey | 24% | 62% | 14% | ||||||
| Australia | 22% | 75% | 3% | ||||||
| Canada | 22% | 74% | 4% | ||||||
| Chile | 22% | 62% | 16% | ||||||
| Germany | 21% | 71% | 7% | ||||||
| France | 19% | 75% | 6% | ||||||
| Spain | 16% | 65% | 19% | ||||||
| Italy | 14% | 81% | 6% | ||||||
| Average | 29% | 59% | 12% |
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