Research Paper Revisions

Original:

As previously stated, after the horrific acts that were witnessed during WWII the naitons of the world felt the need to address torture as a legal issue. Laws were set in place through the 1948 Universal Declaraction of Human Rights, the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the 1984 Convention Against Torture. During these conventions torture was defined as:

"Severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental; is intentionally inflicted on a person; for such purposes as; obtaining from him/her or a third person information or a confession, punishing him/her for an act s/he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him/her or a third person" (Amnesty International USA).

However because of the vagueness of these laws torture still continues to be used in up to as many as 160 countries today. For example, Soviet and Chinese communist regimes in the second half of the century tortured political and religious dissdents. This is all possible because all these nations deny any claim of torture through either interperative denial, implicatory denial, or literal denial (Hajjar).


Revised:

During WWII the Allied nations watched as Germany and Japan tortured their prisoners of war for information. Once the war ended torture was addressed as a legal issue because it was seen as cruel and inhuman. Laws were set in place through the 1948 Universal Declaraction of Human Rights, the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the 1984 Convention Against Torture. During these conventions torture was defined as:

"Severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental; is intentionally inflicted on a person; for such purposes as; obtaining from him/her or a third person information or a confession, punishing him/her for an act s/he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him/her or a third person" (Amnesty International USA).

Torture however, continued throughout the late 20th century. For example Soviet and Chinese communist regimes in the second half of the century tortured political and religious dissdents. This was possible because the definition of torture is vague. Countries use three distinct types of denial to evade punishment for using torture techniques; interperative denial, implicatory denial, and literal denial (Hajjar).