Canadians split on whether torture is justified, poll says

Majority in eight countries oppose tactic on their soil Only Italians and Spaniards roundly condemn its use

WASHINGTON— A majority of people in eight U. S.- allied countries don’t want the United States conducting secret interrogations of terror suspects on their soil, an Associated Press- Ipsos poll has found. The same poll found that in only Spain and Italy did most people fully condemn the use of torture to pry information out of suspected terrorists. In Canada, Britain and Germany opinion was virtually split on whether torture would ever be justified to gain information about potential attacks.

Anxiety about reports of secret prisons run by the CIA in eastern Europe has been heightened by the ongoing debate on the use of torture. Asked about whether the use of torture could be justified, the poll found 49 per cent of Canadians said never. A further 21 per cent said it could “ rarely” be justified, while 28 per cent said it could. The poll found a majority in the United States, France, Britain and South Korea refused to rule out torture in some cases.

Like other U. S. officials, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who is travelling in Europe this week in a bid to allay human rights concerns there, has refused to answer the question of whether the CIA operated secret, Soviet- era prisons in Eastern Europe and whether CIA flights carried Al Qaeda prisoners through European airports.

Sixty- three per cent of Canadian respondents, and about twothirds of Mexicans, South Koreans and Spaniards, said they would oppose allowing the U. S. to secretly interrogate terror suspects in their countries. Almost that many in Britain, France, Germany and Italy said they feel the same way.

However, almost two- thirds of Americans polled supported such secret interrogations in the U. S. by their own government.

Officials with the European Union and in at least a half- dozen European countries are investigating reports of secret U. S. interrogations in Eastern Europe. The EU has threatened to revoke voting rights of any nation in the European Union that was host to a clandestine detention centre.

U. S. military forces have held hundreds of suspects at known installations outside the United States, including at the U. S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The U. S. has adopted aggressive interrogation techniques since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks — techniques some fear occasionally cross the line into torture.

Sixty- one per cent of Americans refused to rule out the torturing of terrorists. About one in 10 — 11 per cent — said it could be justified often, while 27 per cent said sometimes and 23 per cent said rarely. Thirty- six per cent said it could never be justified. The strongest opposition to torture came in Italy, where six in 10 said it is never justified.

“ It doesn’t matter if these people are dangerous, they still have a dignity and the right not to be tortured for whatever reason,” said Maurizio Longo, an Italian real estate agent.

Arizona Republican Senator John McCain is pushing to ban the use of torture as well as “ cruel and inhumane treatment,” and said this week on NBC that he will accept no compromise.