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Forced confession
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{{short description|Confession obtained from a person under duress}} {{Missing information|article|'''the history of this concept'''|date=March 2021}} [[File:Peinliches Verhoer.jpg|thumb|300px|''The teacher Ursula painfully tortured, whipped, beaten, and finally burned in Maastricht, AD 1570'' engraved by [[Jan Luyken]] for the ''[[Martyrs Mirror]]'', 1685]] A '''forced confession''' is a confession obtained from a suspect or a [[prison]]er by means of [[torture]] (including [[enhanced interrogation techniques]]) 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.<ref name="illum2016-07-08">{{cite news|last1=Boffa|first1=Christa|title=Palazz Castellania|url=http://www.illum.com.mt/ahbarijiet/socjali/42432/palazz_castellania#.V5yZyPl961t|work=Illum|date=8 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160730125955/http://www.illum.com.mt/ahbarijiet/socjali/42432/palazz_castellania|archive-date=30 July 2016|language=mt}}</ref> For centuries the Latin phrase "''Confessio est regina probationum''" (in [[English language|English]]: "Confession is the queen of evidence") 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.{{cn|date=November 2023}} 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.
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