October 15, 2007

Abstract: (Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Adults in the United States hold differing views on the way their country deals with prisoners captured in the war on terrorism, according to a poll by Rasmussen Reports. 42 per cent of respondents believe torture is involved, while 30 per cent disagree.

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Adults in the United States hold differing views on the way their country deals with prisoners captured in the war on terrorism, according to a poll by Rasmussen Reports. 42 per cent of respondents believe torture is involved, while 30 per cent disagree.

In 2004, a series of pictures depicting the mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. soldiers appeared in several information sources. A classified U.S. Army report states that some soldiers committed "numerous incidents of criminal abuses" and "grave breaches of international law" at the Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad.

In May 2005, a 308-page report by Amnesty International criticized the U.S. government for its handling of prisoners in several detention centres, including one at Guantanamo Bay where about 400 "enemy combatants"—most of them from Afghanistan—are being held. Former presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton have urged the federal administration to close the prison.

In November 2005, the Washington Post reported on the existence of secret U.S. prisons for purported terrorism suspects located in Eastern Europe. U.S. president George W. Bush declared, "Anything we do to (protect the American people), any activity we conduct, is within the law. We do not torture."

In September 2006, the U.S. Congress authorized the Military Commissions Act of 2006. The legislation prevents the United States from resorting to torture in order to get information from terrorist suspects, allows these suspects to be held indefinitely without being charged with a crime, and forbids them from challenging their confinement in U.S. courts.

The 1949 Geneva Convention defines prisoners of war as members of rival armed forces captured during a conflict. Since the start of the war on terrorism in October 2001, there have been contradictory arguments after captured members of al-Qaeda and the Taliban were defined as "unlawful combatants" who were not subject to the Geneva Convention.

Yesterday, House speaker Nancy Pelosi discussed global perceptions of the U.S. military, saying, "Some of the things that are harmful to our troops relate to values—Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, torture. All of those (are) issues about who we are as a country. And I think that our troops are well-served when we declare who we are as a country and increase the respect that people have for us as a nation."

Original Releases from Rasmussen Reports

Polling Data

Does the U.S. torture prisoners captured in the War on Terror?

Yes	42%
No	30%

Source: Rasmussen Reports
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 800 likely American voters, conducted on Oct. 8 and Oct. 9, 2007. Margin of error is 3.5 per cent.