The international poll surveyedabout 19,000 people in 19 countries, presenting them with a specificscenario. The group WorldPublicOpinion.org conducted and published thepoll through a consortium of research centers around the world. Thegroup's director, Steven Kull, says the survey "pushed the envelope"somewhat by trying to locate people's vulnerability to the argument infavor of the use of torture.
Kull says people were askedspecifically if they would support the torture of a terrorist if itcould gain information that would save innocent lives, or if they werecompletely opposed to torture because it is immoral and would weakeninternational human rights standards.
Kull said the results wereworrisome when it came to the percentage of people who would supportthe use of torture in the case of a terrorist.
"A significantnumber of countries show some openness to this - 59 percent in Indiasay they [the government] should allow some degree of torture," hesaid. "So a majority in India, a majority in Nigeria, a slightmajority in Turkey, and South Korea is about equally balanced."
Kullsays that surprisingly, China, at 66 percent, and Indonesia, at 61percent, had large numbers of people who opposed torture entirely. Hesays that overall, most countries involved in the poll were in favor ofthe rules against torture being applied in all cases, with 14 of the 19nations rejecting any kind of exception.
Yvonne Terlingen of thehuman rights group Amnesty International says the U.S. results in thepoll were alarming. She says only 53 percent of people polled in theUnited States opposed torture under any circumstances, and the nationscored high - at 31 percent - in acceptance of torture of suspectterrorists in order to save lives.
Terlingen said the overallresults of the survey were disturbing in relation to the world'sofficial adherence to the torture prohibition. Currently, 145 out of192 countries officially reject torture.
"Against the backgroundof that strong international framework, it is really shocking to seethat only half of all those interviewed in the poll in 19 countries,that is 57 percent, agree that all torture should be prohibited," shesaid.
The results of the poll are being released in advance ofthe International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, which fallsevery year on June 26.