Torture is never justified

Hi, I want to share with you a resource which may be interesting not only for law-oriented classed but for any advanced group. The topic is valid for any European country involved in cooperation with CIA’s interrogation of terrorists. The question wheteher  torture of the terrorist captured by the the US troops is justified has been already raised many times.

This time you may listen to Yale Law faculty professor and Bloomberg View columnist Stephen Carter who voices his opinion on the topic. The task is clearly a listening comprehension one but may as well be a stimulus for a fruitful discussion.

TASK FOR STUDENTS:

1. Listen to the recording and fill in the gaps.
   

   Torture is never justified..

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2. Discuss the new or difficult words/ phrases.
3. Prepare yourself for the debate on the justification of torture.

FOR TEACHERS: You  may want to pre-teach the following phrases, but the rest is quite simple.

• abusive interrogation
• detainee
• to put a report together
• a deterrent effect
• it strikes me as an odd

Here in Wikipedia you may find a useful list of potential arguments to prepare students for a debate. You may also read more opinions on debate.org: http://www.debate.org/opinions/is-torture-ever-justified This article at Bloombergs website may be used to create a reading  exercise relating to the topic.