One third Americans say torture sometimes acceptable, one fifth support electrical torture

From 20 to 23 May 2004, TNS will conduct a telephone poll for Washington Post-ABC News among 1,005 randomly selected American adults nationwide. The margin of sampling error for overall results is plus or minus three percentage points. Below are the results selected questions pertaining to torture.

27. On another subject, some people say (it's acceptable to torture people suspected of terrorism, in cases where other methods have failed and the authorities believe the suspect has information that could prevent terrorist attacks and save lives.) Other people say (the use of torture is never acceptable because it's cruel, it may violate international law, it may not work, and it could be used unnecessarily or by mistake on innocent people.)

What's your view - do you think (it's acceptable to torture people suspected of terrorism in some cases), or do you think (the use of torture is never acceptable)?

Torture is acceptable in	Torture is never	No
some cases	acceptable	opinion
%	%	%
35	63	1

28. What about physical abuse that falls short of torture? Do you think (it's acceptable to physically abuse but not torture people suspected of terrorism in some cases), or do you think (the use of physical abuse is never acceptable)?

Physical abuse is acceptable in	Physical abuse is never	No
some cases	acceptable	opinion
%	%	%
46	52	2

28a. What about people who are suspected of involvement in recent attacks against U.S. forces in Iraq or Afghanistan? Do you think torture is acceptable or unacceptable in some of those cases?

Yes, torture is acceptable	No, torture is not acceptable	No
in those cases	in those cases	opinion
%	%	%
34	64	2

28b. Again, thinking about people who are suspected of involvement in recent attacks against U.S. forces in Iraq or Afghanistan, do you think physical abuse that falls short of torture is acceptable or unacceptable in some of those cases?

Yes, physical abuse is	No, physical abuse is	No
acceptable in those cases	not acceptable in those cases	opinion
%	%	%
45	53	2

29. Just your best guess, do you think the U.S. government as a matter of policy is or is not using torture as part of the U.S. campaign against terrorism?

Is using torture	Is not using torture	No op.
%	%	%
51	43	6

30. Just your best guess, do you think the U.S. government as a matter of policy is or is not using physical abuse that falls short of torture as part of the U.S. campaign against terrorism?

Is using physical abuse	Is not using physical abuse	No op.
%	%	%
66	29	5

31. As part of the U.S. campaign against terrorism, please tell me if you think each item I name is acceptable in some cases as a method of getting information from prisoners, or is unacceptable in all cases.

	Acceptable	Unacceptable	No op.
	%	%	%
Not allowing the suspect to sleep	66	33	1
Withholding food and water	38	61	1
Threatening to harm the suspect's family members	19	80	.
Applying electric shocks to the suspect	17	82	2
Making the suspect go naked	25	74	1
Bombarding the suspect with loud noise for long periods of time	54	45	1
Holding the suspect's head under water	21	78	1
Threatening to shoot the suspect	41	57	2
Keeping a hood over the suspect's head for long periods of time	57	42	1
Sexually humiliating the suspect	16	84	1
Exposing the suspect to extreme heat or cold	40	58	2
Punching or kicking the suspect	29	69	2