According to the Merriam-webmasters collegiate dictionary (1999. pp. 1246), torture is derived from torture, a French term, which in Latin is Tortura meaning twist. 1948, United Nations General Assembly, after the second world war adopted the Universal declaration on human rights, which prohibits (Bagaric, Mirko & Clarke, 981) the use of torture or any other form of inhuman or demeaning treatment or punishment In the constitutions of most countries and in the international law the use of torture is prohibited(Waldron & Colin, 59). It is seen in many quarters to be barbaric. Geneva Convention comes clean on the treatment of prisoners of war, in which forces representing the enemy state or organization and captured in the war are expected to be treated humanely. (Lauterpacht,139) Following the September 11 attacks, and subsequent war in Afghanistan, many combatants believed to have been fighting for Al Qaeda and against the US-led forces were captured. This presented a challenge to the nation-state. The Bush administration saw them as outside the traditional definition of enemy combatants as they were not fighting for a state. In response to detention at Guantanamo bay, there have been criticisms of torture on the prisoner especially the use of waterboarding. It is unethical, but state security agents are times put in a corner as they struggle in defense of home. The Bush administration claimed that they were able to prevent another attack by the terrorist due to the information they may have extracted from such combatants. Torture to some extent is considered important unethical and inhuman because it may cause mental and physical suffering. The use of torture styles such as awkward positioning, loud music and even extreme heat and cold leads to trauma and fight (Schmid& Ronald 15) In other instances sexual terror torture, damages reproductive organs in cases like electric shocks on the genitals, and spread of sexually transmitted diseases.
In 1812, E. Gerry, Massachusetts governor’s party redistributed the state. Thus, the origin of the term Gerrymander. It occurs when a state is divided into election districts in order to strengthen the party in terms of numbers across many districts, but concentrating the voting numbers of other parties in few areas. Caucus means a closed-door political meeting. It happens when policymakers or politicians decided to elect a member or decide to meet to push for or oppose a certain policy. A nomination caucus is when members of a particular party decide to shape up a strategy that may include deciding who carries the flag of their party. Caucus for example; the women caucus pursues their own interests. Plurality is said to occur when a candidate winning a large number of votes is declared the winner. There is usually a minimum threshold that a winning candidate must get in order to plurally win. When votes are split by many candidates, especially more than two, the one with the highest percentage wins by plurality. According to Online Etymology Dictionary (Retrieved, December 7, 2009), Filibuster was used to refer to Southern states adventurers in America who wanted to overthrow the central government. It was seen to be a tactic of kidnapping the debate. Filibuster occurs when there are attempts to prevent a vote or delay the vote especially through widening and lengthening the debate on a given proposal. Cloture is similar to closure or guillotine. This is a procedure in parliament used to bring a discussion to a quick conclusive end. Cloture was used against filibusters by President Wilson(1917) when they sought to change rules through the senate. President pro term is also called president pro tempore. This term refers to the highest-ranking senator in the United States senate. It is usually the vice president as stated by the constitution. Usually votes, only in case of a tie. In of absence of the vice president, the president pro term is the senior senator from the majority party. But this is often delegated to the junior senators of the majority party. The President’s pro term is third in line with the presidency.
Works Cited
Bagaric, Mirko & Clarke J.., Not Enough Official Torture in the World? The Circumstances in which Torture Is Morally Justifiable. The University of San Francisco. Law Review, Volume 39. 2005. pp. 581.
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. United Nations, 1984.
Greenberg, Joy K. The torture debate in America. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Haiman, (2005). Pp 73.
Schmid, Alex P. Ronald D. The politics of pain: torturers and their masters. Boulder, Colo: West View Press. (1994). Pp 15.
Waldron J. Colin D. The Story of Cruel and Unusual (Boston Review Books). Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press. (2007). Pp 59.