Human Rights

I know the title sounds really BIG, but this topic has been haunting me for a few days now.
For a competition I have been writing a short story and due to the idea I had I ended up thinking about human rights and such things as death penalty.

Recently there was a case here in Germany all over the news. A man had kidnapped a little boy for ransom and he was caught, but refused to reveal the kid's location. The police threatened him with torture and he ended up revealing where the boy was. The boy was already dead as he had been killed right after kidnapping him. The guy was trialed and sent to prison. Now he has taken the German state to court because of the torture threat he had received and he seriously has received an indemnation.

My gut feeling tells me the police was right and that the guy shouldn't have received an indemnation, but I also know that threatening someone with torture is against human rights. So find myself asking myself: What are human rights? I mean a guy killing a little boy in cold blood for money that is inhuman. Right? So someone whose actions are inhuman, does the person still quality for human rights? I know I am walking a thin line here and I thank god, that I am in no position to have to decided over such things but I still think point of view should be reflected upon.

I am sure you will understand, why I have been thinking about this issue so intensively lately, when you read the story. It is called "the diary" and it is published in the english writings section. It is very dark (the competion's theme is "blackness"), but I still kind of like it. Let me know what you think!