Forced confession
A forced confession is a confession obtained from a suspect or a prisoner by means of torture or other forms of duress. Depending on the level of coercion used, a forced confession is not valid in revealing the truth. The individuals being interrogated may agree to the story presented to them or even make up falsehoods themselves in order to satisfy the interrogator and discontinue their suffering.
For centuries the Latin phrase "Confessio est regina probationum" justified the use of forced confession in the European legal system. During the Middle Ages, acquiring a confession prior to a trial was especially important. The methods used to acquire a confession were considered less important than the actual confession itself, thus de facto sanctioning torture and forced confessions.
By the late 18th century, most scholars and lawyers thought of the forced confession not only as a relic of past times and morally wrong but also ineffective as the victim of torture may confess to anything just to ease their suffering.
Developments in the 20th century, notably the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, greatly reduced the legal acceptance of forced confessions. However, for most of legal history they have been accepted in most of the world, and are still accepted in some jurisdictions.
Modern-day usage
Bahrain
Mohamed Ramadan
i authorities refused for more than two years to investigate complaints regarding the torture of Mohamed Ramadan—a father-of-three on death row who was tortured into making a false confession.In February 2014, Ramadan was arrested from Bahrain International Airport, where he worked as a police officer. He was accused of involvement in an attack on other police officers. There is no evidence tying him to the crime, according to Reprieve, who state that Ramadan is innocent and was arrested in retaliation for his attendance at pro-democracy demonstrations.
Following his arrest, Ramadan was tortured by police into signing a false confession. During his initial detention, police officers "told Mohammed outright that they knew he was innocent", but were punishing him as a traitor for attending pro-democracy demonstrations.
During his entire pre-trial detention, Ramadan was not allowed to meet with his lawyer. The day Ramadan's trial began was the first time he saw his lawyer's face. In that trial, he was convicted and sentenced to death almost solely on the basis of confessions extracted through prolonged torture.
2016 Reprieve report
In 2016, human rights organisation Reprieve published an investigative report which argued that seven Bahraini men facing the death penalty had been forced into confessing their crimes after being tortured during interrogations. The report also revealed that the Bahraini government was employing Northern Ireland Co-operation Overseas, a firm funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, to train its law enforcement personnel.Sami Mushaima, Ali Al-Singace, Abbas Al-Samea (2017) executed
On 15 January 2017, Bahraini authorities executed three torture victims following authorization by King Hamad. Sami Mushaima, Ali Al-Singace and Abbas Al-Samea were executed by firing squad.Bahrain security forces arrested Sami Mushaima in March 2014 and held him incommunicado for at least 11 days. Security officials subjected Mushaima to beatings, electrocution, and sexual assault. His front teeth were severely damaged. Mushaima's family believes he was coerced into falsely confessing through the use of torture.
Sami Mushaima, Ali Al-Singace, and Abbas Al-Samea are all torture victims rendered stateless and condemned to death following unfair trials. Their executions have sparked widespread protests across the country.
Maya Foa, a director of the international human rights group Reprieve, said:
The European Union also condemned the sentences: "This case is a serious drawback given that Bahrain had suspended executions for... years, and concerns have been expressed about possible violations of the right to a fair process for the three convicted".
Brazil
Tainá Rape (2013)
Four men were arrested and confessed to raping and killing a girl named Tainá who was crossing in front of the theme park where they worked. Later the police found that the girl was not raped and that the four men were tortured. 13 policemen were arrested, and the police chief fled.China
The People's Republic of China systematically employed forced televised confession against Chinese dissidents and workers of various human rights groups in an attempt to discredit, smear and suppress dissident voices and activism. These scripted confessions, obtained with the person under duress and via torture, are broadcast on the state television. Notable victims includes Wang Yu, a female human rights lawyer, and Swedish citizen Peter Dahlin, an NGO worker and human rights activist. The owners of Causeway Bay BooksGui Minhai and Lam Wing-keewho were abducted by state security agents operating outside of Mainland China, also made such controversial confessions. Upon regaining his freedom, Lam detailed his abduction and detention, and recanted his confessions in Hong Kong to the media.These televised confessions and acts of contrition have been denounced as frauds by critics. Media organisations in China and in Hong Kong, including the South China Morning Post, which is owned by Alibaba, have been criticised for abetting the practice by circulating the "confessions" and in some cases even participating in them. Safeguard Defenders released a report in April 2018 in which 45 high-profile examples of the so-called confessions were broadcast between July 2013 and February 2018. More than half of the subjects were journalists, lawyers, and other individuals involved in promoting human rights in China. The confessions were mostly imposed on the subjects outside of the formal legal framework, in the absence of a trial, and without regard for the presumption of innocence under the Chinese law. Many of those forced to record confessions later explained in detail how the videos were carefully scripted and made under the watchful eyes of the agents of the security apparatus, demonstrating their powerlessness once they are within the opaque Chinese legal system.
Islamic Republic of Iran
According to at least two observers, the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran has systematically used false confessions extracted by torture. They have been used on a much larger scale than in Stalin's Soviet Union because the confessions could be videotaped and broadcast for purposes of propaganda. During the 1980s, television "recantation" shows were common on Iranian state television.Since eyewitness accounts were published documenting the use of torture in extracting confessions, the recantations and confessions have lost much of their propaganda impact. The practice of collecting confessions has continued, however, now used more to demoralize the opposition, gather information about them, and sow fear and distrust among the Iranian opposition as "recanters" accuse other opposition members. There were reportedly so many confessions coerced following the 2009 protest crackdown that "there's no way to film even a tiny percentage of them."
The public e'terafat in Iran are not simply confessions, but "political and ideological recantation". They come in a variety of forms, "pretrial testimonials; in chest-beating letters; in mea culpa memoirs; press conferences, 'debates', and 'roundtable discussions, but most commonly in videotaped 'interviews' and 'conversations' aired on prime-time television." The standard form in the time of Ayatollah Khomeini began with an introduction hailing Imam Khomeini with all of his titles The recanter "emphasised the interview was entirely voluntary and that the speaker had come forth willingly to warn others of the pitfalls awaiting them if they deviated from the Khatt-e Imam Then followed condemnation of the prisoner's organisation, beliefs, comrades. Ended with thanks to the wardens see the light. It hoped that the sincere repentance and the Imam's compassion would pave the way for forgiveness, redemption,... the Imam chose not to forgive, that too would be understandable in light of the enormity of the crimes."
These recantations served as powerful propaganda not only for both the Iranian public at large but also for the recanter's former colleagues, for whom the denunciations were demoralising and confusing. From the moment they arrived in prison, through their interrogation prisoners were asked if they were willing to give an "interview". "Some remained incarcerated even after serving their sentences simply because they declined the honour of being interviewed."
While the constitution of the Islamic Republic explicitly outlaws shekanjeh and the use of coerced confessions, other laws are employed to allow coercion. Up to 74 lashings can be administered for 'lying to the authorities', and a defendant may be found guilty of lying by a cleric in the process of interrogating the defendant. Thus "clerical interrogators can give indefinite series of 74 lashings until they obtain 'honest answers.
Techniques used to extract confessions included whipping, most often on the soles of the feet; deprivation of sleep; suspension from the ceiling and high walls; twisting of forearms until they broke; crushing of hands and fingers between metal presses; insertion of sharp instruments under the fingernails; cigarette burns; submersion under water; standing in one place for hours on end; mock executions; and physical threats against family members.
According to one defendant, "his interrogator kept on repeating throughout his torment 'This hadd punishment will continue until you give us a videotaped interview, "interview" being the term used for confession sessions.
In June 2020, FIDH and its member organization Justice for Iran, in a 57-page report titled "Orwellian State: The Islamic Republic of Iran’s State Media as a Weapon of Mass Suppression", reported that between 2009 and 2019, Iranian state-owned media IRIB broadcast the forced confessions of about 355 individuals and defamatory content against at least 505 individuals. The report is the outcome of more than 1,500 hours of research and analysis of over 150 programs and 13 in-depth interviews with victims of forced confessions.