>>The case on the kidnapper already was quite clear, so why protect the rights of the kidnapper as long there *might* be a chance of protecting the kids right to live ?
>>
>>The "reduction" to personal level as means to deride it as contrapoint of "civilized society" is making me quesy. The rights of the kid are forgotten by "civilised society" mostly looking after the rights of the kidnapper in custody.
>
>I contend that the judicial system (most countries') has "room" to come to a "correct" decision in the case of illegal torture administered by some official.
>In the case of someone being tortured for a genuine "ticking time bomb" situation I woud bet that a jury might well acquit the offender.

Agreed - and I also think torture should be excused as an exception only in certain circumstances. But those exceptions should

a) be more clearly formulated
b) give more weight to the victims side (only when the "guilt" is already clear)
c) give room for situations where the true state of affairs is not known at decision time
d) leave a correction space.

my 0.0001

thomas