Most people around the world reject the use of torture to glean information, even if it could save the lives of innocent victims of a terrorist attack, a poll published on Thursday showed.
Some 59 percent of the people surveyed declined to endorse torture, while 29 percent said governments around the world should be given some leeway in trying to elicit intelligence.
The poll was conducted by GlobeScan, together with the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) at the University of Maryland in the United States, for the BBC World Service. GlobeScan interviewed 27,407 people in 25 countries between May and July 2006.
"The dominant view around the world is that terrorism does not warrant bending the rules against torture," said Steven Kull, PIPA's director.
Italians were the most against the use of torture (81 percent), followed by Australia and France (75 percent each), Canada (74 percent), Britain (72 percent) and Germany (71 percent).
By contrast, Israelis were the most in favour of giving their government flexbility in the use of torture, with 43 percent supporting the notion, compared to 48 percent opposed to the use of torture.
In the United States, where President George W. Bush on Tuesday signed a controversial law allowing secret overseas CIA prisons, harsh interrogation tactics, and military trials as weapons against suspected terrorists, 58 percent of respondents opposed the use of torture.
Overall, in 19 of the 25 countries where the survey was carried out, a majority were in favour of upholding rules against torture, and a plurality backed rules against torture in five others. India was the only country where a plurality backed giving governments leeway in the use of torture, with 32 percent backing that stance, against 23 percent who opposed torture.