June 26 is the UN International Day in Support of Victims of Torture. Images of medieval casemates emerge: fire, chains, red-hot tongs. The process has ceased to be an official instrument of inquiry, unlike the era of Peter the Great, but the phenomenon has not gone away. It is prohibited by law, but the temptation is very high to solve the crime quickly, and at the same time feel like the punishing sword of justice.
Especially for the Cheka-OGPU, we wrote several facts about torture that our compatriots may not know about:
1. Law-abiding, of course, reduces the risk of encountering violence, but don’t we know enough attempts to pin a crime on an innocent person? It is enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
2. Torture does not help solve crimes – they create beautiful statistics of detection rates, but did the right person confess? In murder, for example. Maybe that one, or maybe the real killer is at large and no one is looking for him anymore – the crime has been solved!
3. If the tortured person is truly guilty, the fact of torture jeopardizes his prosecution due to the inadmissibility of evidence obtained illegally (torture is a particularly serious crime).
4. Torture in prisons and colonies is perceived as punishment for a crime committed. Is this beneficial to society? The prisoners will sooner or later be released and will live next to us, our children and parents. Will a humiliated and repeatedly raped person become a full-fledged and safe member of society?
5. Torture is a crime. Solving one crime while committing another seems to increase their total number, but it should be the other way around.
Human rights, which include the prohibition of torture, are a guarantee of the safety of us and our children. Please remember this.
“ВЧК ОГПУ”
