OG,
None of the examples quoted above justify these actions. Police dept doing it to control riots, where does that happen? Having said that, it still is unacceptable behaviour. How wud u like someone to forcibly write something on your forehead while u ra blindfolded and being treated like a suspect with no rights? Here the nazi analogy comes to mind, cause their acts too wud hv been rationalized by their supporters, its all about relative position in history.
As for your last cheap shot on beheadings, well it sickens me when I hear of it and to be honest saw one and vowed never to c it again. Such acts are dispicable, but so is the excuse for carrying out human right violations by using the actions of a few nutballs as justification.