Should "torture" be a criminal offence?
My instinct is no.
That's not because someone who commits torture should not be held criminally liable but rather because we should minimise the number of criminal offences and torture is already covered by aggravated assault.
Our Criminal Code is already full of redundant offences -- we should be subtracting from the Code and not adding thereto.
From the Star:
Man in alleged torture case wants changes to Criminal Code
Petti Fong
Western Canada Bureau
VANCOUVER—Dustin LaFortune was barely alive when someone dumped him outside a hospital in Regina on April 16.
After being allegedly beaten, starved and mutilated — his bottom lip and part of his tongue had been cut off — he was not expected to live through the night.
After being put on life support and undergoing extensive rehabilitation, LaFortune, 27, is slowly recovering. But while he continues to make progress in Victoria, where he now lives, he's also working on another goal: Adding torture to the Criminal Code.
LaFortune's former roommate, Dustin Paxton, 30, was charged with aggravated assault and forcible confinement in the case and faces a preliminary hearing in January. But LaFortune is shocked and disappointed that Paxton can't be charged with torture, a family spokeswoman said Monday.
"When Dustin and his family were speaking to the authorities about what charges could be brought against the individual, torture was not an option," said Jodie Gastel, a family friend. "Every one of us was shocked that it could be a crime for someone who works for the government but not a private citizen."
James Morton
1100-5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4
416 225 2777
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