(Spoilers ahead for SNW S2E1, “The Broken Circle”)
I mean we’ve all been there. You’re just about to take some time off work when you get a last-minute email from a coworker who asks you to steal the company car, help them infiltrate a shady criminal gang, and prevent an intra-galactic war. You know, a typical Friday afternoon.
However, among the many highly relatable scenes in S2E1 of Strange New Worlds, one sequence was conspicuously out of place, both in the Star Trek universe and in the real world.
On the ore-rich planet of Cajitar IV, Dr M’Benga and Nurse Chapel are helping to care for several civilians who were poisoned during a mishap which likely had something to do with the activities of an unscrupulous mining syndicate. They’re then kidnapped by some Klingon members of the syndicate and brought to the group’s hideout deep within the mine. After jumping to conclusions carefully considering their options, M’Benga and Chapel agree that the only way they can escape and uncover the syndicate’s dastardly plans is to shoot up some super-soldier serum and absolutely wreck anyone who gets in their way.
During a brief pause in a well choreographed hallway fight, Beast-Mode-M’Benga finds a Klingon underling and proceeds to beat the ever-living daylights out of him in order to find out what his friends are up to. At some point during the interrogation, the surprised underling says “I know about your Federation rules against torture” and expects the beating to stop. M’Benga continues and the underling soon relents, conveniently giving the good doctor all the information he requested in a timely fashion. Chapel makes a few attempts to rein M’Benga in, but is otherwise a willing accomplice.
While it is debatable whether a Klingon would even be susceptible to torture (they might actually enjoy it – after all this is the culture that invented the Rite of Ascension), it nevertheless should be clear that torture is unethical and illegal, no matter the circumstance.
But you didn’t visit this blog for the TL;DR, so let’s break down how this situation relates to the law in real life!
The legal framework applicable to this situation depends on whether a situation of armed conflict existed at the time of the offence and whether M’Benga and Chapel were acting in an official capacity. If they were acting under orders during an armed conflict, then their actions would violate International Humanitarian Law and could amount to a war crime under the grave breaches regimes of the Geneva Conventions – or under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), if the ICC has jurisdiction.
But in this case, a situation of armed conflict does not (yet) exist. In peacetime, the prohibition of torture is covered by (among other treaties) the UN Convention Against Torture, under which States must put into place measures to ensure their officials do not commit torture. Under this treaty, “no exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture” (Article 2(2)).
One potential complication with applying anti-torture laws to this case is that it is debatable whether M’Benga and Chapel were actually acting as agents of Starfleet at the time M’Benga tortured the underling. Those who have seen the episode will recall that the crew stole the Enterprise from space-dock and did not have orders to be on their mission. Therefore, one could credibly argue that the duo were working completely outside of their official capacity at the time the incident occurred. That said, Starfleet did not pursue the Enterprise after it was stolen and Admiral April took no action against the crew upon their return for going rogue – he even seemed to allow Spock to negotiate a treaty with the Klingons on the Federation’s behalf while drunk! All this suggests that while the crew were acting outside their official capacity, they did so with the tacit approval of Starfleet and the Federation.
However, for the sake of argument, let’s say that M’Benga and Chapel were not undertaking any official Starfleet business (with either the actual or tacit approval of their chain of command), but instead were acting completely in their personal capacity. In real life, this would be akin to military personnel committing a crime while on leave or while AWOL (absent without leave). In many countries, the military justice system can prosecute service personnel even when they commit crimes in a personal capacity and even when they do so abroad. Assault and battery are crimes under military law just as they are under civilian law and if M’Benga and Chapel were members of the UK Armed Forces, there would be some further military-specific offences under the UK’s Armed Forces Act 2006 which could be relevant, including:
- Unfitness or misconduct through alcohol or drugs (i.e. for taking the super-soldier serum)
- Fighting or threatening behaviour
- Disgraceful conduct of a cruel or indecent kind
So, even if they were not charged with torture, per se, military law could still come down hard on M’Benga and Chapel for their actions. In addition, they could face serious professional consequences for violating medical ethics. In many countries, medical professionals must be registered or licensed in order to practice medicine and when doctors or nurses do not meet the high ethical standards demanded of their profession, national regulatory bodies can suspend their registration/licence – or even bar them from practicing ever again.
Aside from being illegal and unethical, torture has been shown not to be effective and it can even cause psychological harm to the torturer. But despite all of the harmful effects of torture (to both the tortured and the torturer), depictions abound in popular culture where the hero is successfully able to get credible information from a bona fide Bad Dude after a few well-placed punches. This is a shame because such casual (and inaccurate) depictions of torture can erode popular support for its prohibition in all circumstances. Indeed, a fairly recent International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) report found that among millennials, “41 per cent believe that torture is acceptable under some circumstances [and e]ven after having the UN Convention against Torture explained to them, 37 per cent still believe torture is acceptable under some circumstances.”
While this episode of Strange New Worlds may have missed the mark, Star Trek generally has a good track record of approaching the subject of torture in a well-considered way. Many fans will recall the deeply moving two-episode arc of Next Gen entitled “Chain of Command” (TNG S6E11 & S6E12), where Captain Picard is tortured to the point that he is about ready to accept any version of reality his torturer puts in front of him. Indeed, if you haven’t come across Sebastian De Tomas’ post over at startrek.com on how these episodes resonated with what he knew of people who suffered under military rule in Argentina, it is well worth a read.
Hopefully this season of Strange New Worlds will revisit what M’Benga and Chapel did on Cajitar IV – and perhaps they will indeed experience some negative consequences in future episodes for torturing the Klingon underling, regardless of how well things worked out at the end of this episode. However, considering Spock’s hangover was his only punishment for stealing Starfleet’s flagship, I fear neither of them will be facing a general court-martial anytime soon!
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this post are my own and do not necessarily represent the British Red Cross or the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.
