9 Excusing the Inexcusable
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Malcolm D. Evans
Abstract
There is a very close connection between ‘accepting the unacceptable’ and ‘excusing the inexcusable’. This chapter highlights how, even when something is known to be wrong – or accepted to be unacceptable – it may just not be considered sufficiently serious to merit notice, attention or comment. As a result, when challenged, often bizarre excuses are offered to justify what those offering them know to be inexcusable. The plausibility of the excuse is less important than the fact of making it, and having been made, it then becomes difficult to accept the need for change at all. A classic and stark example is the extent to which some continue to try to excuse the continued use of torture and ill-treatment itself, despite its prohibition. Critically engaging with such excuses can entrench them, yet the very structure of international human rights protection prompts excuse-making, thus rendering the prevention more complex.
Abstract
There is a very close connection between ‘accepting the unacceptable’ and ‘excusing the inexcusable’. This chapter highlights how, even when something is known to be wrong – or accepted to be unacceptable – it may just not be considered sufficiently serious to merit notice, attention or comment. As a result, when challenged, often bizarre excuses are offered to justify what those offering them know to be inexcusable. The plausibility of the excuse is less important than the fact of making it, and having been made, it then becomes difficult to accept the need for change at all. A classic and stark example is the extent to which some continue to try to excuse the continued use of torture and ill-treatment itself, despite its prohibition. Critically engaging with such excuses can entrench them, yet the very structure of international human rights protection prompts excuse-making, thus rendering the prevention more complex.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- Acknowledgements vi
- Introduction 1
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The Solution
- What Is Torture? 17
- Why Prevention? 34
- Establishing the Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention against Torture 49
- What the Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention against Torture Requires 65
- The Visiting Mandate of the UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture 84
- The UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and National Preventive Mechanisms 102
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The Problem
- Visits: An Insider’s Story 123
- Accepting the Unacceptable 139
- Excusing the Inexcusable 149
- Prescribing the Inappropriate 160
- Working with Fictions 171
- Thinking Positively about Prevention 184
- References 199
- Index 203
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- Acknowledgements vi
- Introduction 1
-
The Solution
- What Is Torture? 17
- Why Prevention? 34
- Establishing the Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention against Torture 49
- What the Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention against Torture Requires 65
- The Visiting Mandate of the UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture 84
- The UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and National Preventive Mechanisms 102
-
The Problem
- Visits: An Insider’s Story 123
- Accepting the Unacceptable 139
- Excusing the Inexcusable 149
- Prescribing the Inappropriate 160
- Working with Fictions 171
- Thinking Positively about Prevention 184
- References 199
- Index 203
