72% of Lebanese think that torture is justified according to a spring 2015 Pew Research Center survey of 38 nations. The question asked was as follows:
“In the period following the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks in the U.S, the U.S government used interrogation methods that many consider to be torture on people suspected of terrorism. In your opinion, were these interrogation methods justified, or not justified?
If the (survey country) government used torture against people suspected of terrorism to try to gain information about possible attacks in our country, do you think this could be justified or could not be justified?”
Lebanon had the second highest percentage after Uganda. In regards to other Arab countries surveyed, I could only find Jordan and Palestine where less than 50% were in favor of torture. Overall, a median of 45 per cent of people said that torture was never justified, and a median of 40 per cent said it could be in specific cases to learn information about future terrorist attacks. The view that torture may be justified was least common in Latin America (a median of 25%).
The countries with publics most likely to say that torture is justified were:
Uganda (78 per cent)
Lebanon (72 per cent)
Israel (62 per cent)
Kenya (62 per cent)
Nigeria (61 per cent)
USA (58 per cent)
To be honest, it is surprising to see such a high percentage in Lebanon but it would have been interesting to compare it to other countries threatened by terrorism like Iraq and Egypt, as well as other Arab countries like KSA, Qatar, Bahrain etc …