Northern Irish children tortured to admit to murders
During the Troubles, hundreds of men and women were convicted of terrorist activities on the basis of convictions that in many cases were beaten out of them in the 1970s, 80s, and 90s. Among them were children as young as 14 and 16 who were tortured for days on end.
The Diplock court system allowed for convictions on the basis of confessions only, and non jury trials.A pervasive culture of forcing confessions to win convictions has now been revealed by a Guardian newspaper investigation
The Guardian report probes the outcome of The Criminal Cases Review Commission, which investigates possible miscarriages of justice in England, Wales and Northern Ireland,. The commission to date overturned 24 convictions in Northern Ireland and it says that it has received applications from 200 people who claim torture while in custody during the Troubles.
According to officers of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC,) interviewed by the Guardian the torture began after the establishment of the Diplock Courts in 1973, a system of non-jury courts named after Lord Diplock. The courts treated terrorist offences as criminal rather than political, and with the case heard in front of a judge rather than a jury, a confession alone could secure a conviction....
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The Diplock court system allowed for convictions on the basis of confessions only, and non jury trials.A pervasive culture of forcing confessions to win convictions has now been revealed by a Guardian newspaper investigation
The Guardian report probes the outcome of The Criminal Cases Review Commission, which investigates possible miscarriages of justice in England, Wales and Northern Ireland,. The commission to date overturned 24 convictions in Northern Ireland and it says that it has received applications from 200 people who claim torture while in custody during the Troubles.
According to officers of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC,) interviewed by the Guardian the torture began after the establishment of the Diplock Courts in 1973, a system of non-jury courts named after Lord Diplock. The courts treated terrorist offences as criminal rather than political, and with the case heard in front of a judge rather than a jury, a confession alone could secure a conviction....