Torture and Confession: History over Time and Space

Résumé du document

Torture must be humane, that is, it should cease immediately when the person confesses', wrote a French officer during the Algerian war, to regulate the practise of torture. This sentence reveals an interesting point, concerning the link between torture and confession. By being the only purpose of torture, confession becomes its justification. The practise of torture will remain humane, provided it is dedicated to a utilitarian use of generating a confession. The issue of torture in extreme circumstances, such as war time, has already been brought up. My presentation will focus on 'routine torture', torture that occurs in the everyday circumstances of a criminal process or at the police station. I will emphasize the dynamics between 'torture and confession, over time and space'. To confess is to admit your faults or misdeeds. The UN definition of torture includes a reference to 'confession', as one of the possible purposes of the infliction of 'severe pain or suffering'. Then, it results in a coerced confession. If confession is valued as the motive for torturing, is it always its only function? Is confession only an external purpose or justification of torture, or merely an internal part of the torture act?

Extraits

[...] Could the confession be also an element of the torture process? Yes, if it shares the same purposes, notably obtaining total submission of the victim and maintaining the social order by spreading terror.(2) 1. Obtaining total submission from the subject “Your words don't belong to you anymore”. The practise of torture aims at obtaining a total control over the victims. If the torturer manages to overcome the mental resistance of the subject, he/she has reached the expected aim. The victim is entirely under his/her prosecutor's control: body, mind, willingness . [...]

[...] They had to confess in public that their ideas were lies. In this case, it did not matter if their statements corresponded to their real thought. “That something is asked as if the content of the answer matters does not mean that it matters” (Elaine Scarry). The interrogation is meant to create a tension in the victim's mind. The torture act is even worst when the victim has to resist both the pain and the temptation to confess something. If he can make the torture act cease by confessing, then he feels responsible for the perpetuation of the suffering B. [...]

[...] According to Mr. Kawabata, the police detective said: “Everyone is confessing, you are the only who refuses”. Everyone, and apparently, even those who are innocent II. Beyond the quest of truth, an inherent part of its structure A. Confession is not to be reduced to the quest of truth Under torture, the innocent victim is likely to pronounce a false confession But perhaps, finding the truth is not always the main goal of the interrogation Awareness of the risks of a false confession Since a very long time, many jurists have been totally aware of the unreliability of a coerced confession. [...]

[...] My presentation will focus on “routine torture”, torture that occurs in the everyday circumstances of a criminal process or at the police station. I will emphasize the dynamics between “torture and confession, over time and space”. To confess is to admit your faults or misdeeds. The UN definition of torture includes a reference to “confession”, as one of the possible purposes of the infliction of “severe pain or suffering”. Then, it results in a coerced confession. If confession is valued as the motive for torturing, is it always its only function? [...]

[...] But Avelar conclude with the idea that the truth cannot be reduced to the psychology of the torturer and to the horrible act: “Never has the equation of confession and truth taken a more obscene form”[12]. Bibliography Books AVELAR, Idelber. Five Theses on Torture. In : Journal of Latin American Cultural Studies, décembre 2001, vol p. 253-271 GUDJONSSON, Gisli. Custodial Confinement, Interrogation and Coerced Confessions. In : A Glimpse of Hell. Reports on Torture Worldwide / Duncan FORREST (éd.) pour Amnesty International United Kingdom. London : Amnesty International British Section ; London : Cassel X-214 p., chapitre p. 36-45 LANGBEIN, John H. [...]