ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the legalisation of interrogational torture. The suggestion that interrogational torture should be legally regulated has tested the rationale underpinning the absolute prohibition, as well as the arguments for reform. To the critics of such an idea, the proponents of legislation favour the reversal of internationally-recognised legal norms on the basis of flawed moral reasoning, false empirical claims and a failure to acknowledge the harms of torture. Scholarly discussion of interrogational torture and the War on Terror has sometimes included highly emotive characterisations and ad hominem attacks. The torture and counter-terrorism literature is littered with attacks on American morality, its citizenry and the value of American culture. The purported vulnerability of the prohibition in the post-9/11 security environment requires the best possible defence. Research suggests that Holocaust education programmes have a beneficial effect on knowledge, and raise awareness of racism, anti-Semitism, intolerance and scapegoating.
