FORCING CONFESSIONS

Chronicle (Levin), 8 October 1949, Page 5

FORCING CONFESSIONS

(N.Z.P.A,

—Reuter.

What Hangs Behind The Iron Curtain

. Copyriaht)

Received Friday 7.50 p.m. KEW YQRK, Oot, 6. ' The British Attoraey-General, Sir Hartley Shawcross, today gave details of what he said were the methods used in totalitarian countries to extraet "confessions" from politieal prisoners. He spoke during the United Nations' Poli1 tieal Committee 's debate on the church trials in Bulgaria, Rumania and Hungary. Sir Hartley Shawcross said knowledge about the methods of extracting confessions had gradually been built up. "It is liot a question of drugs, nor always of aetnal jffiysieal ill-treatment. It is more subtle than that. These silent places of detention are the psyehologieal laboratories of the secret poliee. A prizoner knows his fate is already sealed. The only thing for him is whether he can act in a way which will, as he is led to think, mitigate the consequences to the cause in which he believes, or will save his life or that of his friends. "These helpless vietims are softened up and eventually in duced to make confessions. If they don't confess the world never hears of them again. When they do, the truth value ofNvhat they sav is well illustrated by the socalled confession of oue of the Bulgarian pastors that he periodically met and conspired with a named British official when in fact the official had been nowhere liear the country at the time." Sir Hartlej Shawcross recommended that the whole question of the infringements of human rights by Bulgaria, Hungary and Rumania be referred to the international Court of Justice for an opinion.