Violance And Torture In Jails
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MEHMET KARAMEHMETOGLU
2007101903
BOGAZICI UNIVERSITY
VIOLANCE AND TORTURE IN JAILS
INTT 191
DR. OZLEM OKTEM
14.01.2010
1-INTRODUCTUON
2-CASE OF ENGIN CEBER
3-POWER AND VIOLANCE
Personal Rights and Freedom
Different Ideas
4-IS IT BENEFICIAL
5-CONCLUSION
1-INTRODUCTION
Violance has been existing throughout the history form primitive communities to modern civilizations. Unfortunately, we often encounter with different forms of violance in contemporary society. To clap a student who gets low marks, fighting arising from difference of opinions, killing people because of customs and like these, most of the news in which we read third pages of the newspaper are obvious examples of violance. Even if we try to get rid of violance immediately, it continious to increase instead of decreasing and finish. Moreover, the constitution which is responsible for the peace and safety of society also becomes the scene of violance. While the use of torture in order to make people confess and make them say the truth is critisized, violance is now seen obviously in streets and also in police cars to punish people. Decedents, who are died because of not to obey “stop warning” of the police, people who are beaten in jail and who are coshed in actions even if the action is legal, etc are the victims of violance.
2-CASE OF ENGIN CEBER
For a concrete and contemporary instance, the death of Engin Ceber can be given. While Engin Ceber was allocating magazines in Sarıyer during an action, he was putting in jail. After ten days in jail, he died because of celebral hemorrhage, and the report of the Medical Jurisprudence explained that the death had stemmed from the torture in jail. “Observers say 29-year-old Ceber was kicked and beaten with metal and wooden bars in Istanbuls Metris prison after police accused him of resisting arrest. He had been detained after handing out leaflets protesting against lack of action against officers accused of shooting and paralysing another activist at a previous rally”(Tait, 2009). Unfortunately, a human life has gone owing to an inhumane treatment. The death of Engin Ceber shows us the situation of people under sentence. It can be derived that torture is not over, and yet conditions are not made better, sentenced people are deprived of basic life and security rights.
3-POWER AND VIOLANCE
Personal Rights and Freedom
Violance and torture in jails can be analysed in different aspects. One perspective of this is about personal rights and freedom. Nobody should face persecution because of their actions. As John Stuart Mill explained with harm principle, everbody is free to do what they want even if another one does not suffer from it. According to John Stuart Mill;when freedoms begin to harm other, power can be brought. “The only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either pysical or moral, is not sufficent warrant.”(Mill, 1859). He means that power can be used only for another ones advantage.
DIFFERENT IDEAS
Additionaly, everybody has different characters, ideas, ideologies etc. Someone may not have the other ones point of the view. A policeman is not different from other people, except his status. That is to say, there is no place to violance when disagreements occur, because he is sovereign over himself. “Over himself, over his own body and mind, the individual is sovereign.”(Mill, 1859).
“The strongest is never strong enough to be always the master, unless he transforms strength into right, and obedience into duty.”(Rousseou, 1762). Power does not have much importance without rights. Only if you have a right to do, you can use your power and again only if something is duty, it has sanction. People have right to take defence and the police has the duty of making society secure and peaceful. While looking at torture on people by policemen from this aspect, we can not mention about any right or duty.