The findings of a global survey have been described as “alarming”.
One in three Britons think torture is acceptable in certain circumstances, according to a poll by Amnesty International – and the glorification of torture on television is partially to blame.
Showtime
A higher proportion of British people believe that torture can be justified in the interests of national security, when compared with people from Russia, Brazil and Argentina.
However 56% of Brits polls believed that torture is not acceptable under any circumstance.
Amnesty commissioned the survey to gauge worldwide attitudes to torture, with 21,000 people in 21 countries asked their views by the polling company GlobeScan.
Kate Allen, director of Amnesty International UK, expressed surprise at the high figures and suggested that television shows such as Homeland, Spooks and 24 are partially responsible.
“Programmes like 24, Homeland and Spooks have glorified torture to a generation – but there’s a massive difference between a dramatic depiction by screenwriters, and its real-life use by government agents in torture chambers," she said.
Showtime / Via homelandfans.tumblr.com
“These findings are alarming, we really didn’t foresee this sort of response from people in the UK and it shows we have got a lot of work to do."
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