Nearly two-thirds of Americans believe torture can be justified to extract information from suspected terrorists, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll, a level of support similar to that seen in countries like Nigeria where militant attacks are common.
The poll reflects a US public on edge after the massacre of 14 people in San Bernardino in December and large-scale attacks in Europe in recent months, including a bombing claimed by the militant group Dae’sh last week that killed at least 32 people in Belgium.
Donald Trump, the frontrunner for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, has forcefully injected the issue of whether terrorism suspects should be tortured into the election campaign.
Trump’s stance has drawn broad criticism from human rights organisations, world bodies, and political rivals. But the poll findings suggest that many Americans are aligned with Trump on the issue, although the survey did not ask respondents to define what they consider torture.
The March 22-28 online poll asked respondents if torture can be justified “against suspected terrorists to obtain information about terrorism.” About 25% said it is “often” justified while another 38% it is “sometimes” justified. Only 15% said torture should never be used.
Republicans were more accepting of torture to elicit information than Democrats: 82% of Republicans said torture is “often” or “sometimes” justified, compared with 53% of Democrats.
About two-thirds of respondents also said they expected a terrorist attack on US soil within the next six months.
Surveys by other polling agencies in recent years have shown US support for the use of torture at around 50%. A 2014 survey by Amnesty International, for example, put American support for torture at about 45%, compared with 64% in Nigeria, 66% in Kenya and 74% in India.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll included 1,976 people. It has a credibility interval, a measure of accuracy, of 2.5- percentage points for the entire group and about 4-percentage points for both Democrats and Republicans.
