In 2003, extrajudicial detention and torture of detainees was legal.
Curiously, the English language uses the words sin and crime to talk about wrongdoing, even though sin is wrongdoing against God (as according to whatever ministry whose services you attend) and crime is wrongdoing against the state. We don’t have words for wrongdoing against the self, the neighbor, the community, the natural environment or (hypothetically) the universe, and often make up phrases, e.g. sin against nature, or crime against humanity.
(Granted some acts of wrongdoing against these other objects might be regarded as a sin or a crime, but then the focus is on the transgression against church and state; our entire justice system and our entire religious moral system cares very little about the victims, but retribution against the offender. If someone shoots up a school and kills themselves, the state and its justice system cares very little.)
Because it’s"lawful" even if it’s not ethical.
Just remembering all the other things that were legal once
Child labor. Unlimited work hours per week.
Slave ownership
Asbestos and coal mining without protection
Serfdom and paying taxes to the king
Etc etc.
In 2003, extrajudicial detention and torture of detainees was legal.
Curiously, the English language uses the words sin and crime to talk about wrongdoing, even though sin is wrongdoing against God (as according to whatever ministry whose services you attend) and crime is wrongdoing against the state. We don’t have words for wrongdoing against the self, the neighbor, the community, the natural environment or (hypothetically) the universe, and often make up phrases, e.g. sin against nature, or crime against humanity.
(Granted some acts of wrongdoing against these other objects might be regarded as a sin or a crime, but then the focus is on the transgression against church and state; our entire justice system and our entire religious moral system cares very little about the victims, but retribution against the offender. If someone shoots up a school and kills themselves, the state and its justice system cares very little.)