Article 11 of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights includes the presumption of innocence, which many people are aware of, but that's not all:
1. Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence.
2. No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offence, under national or international law, at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time the penal offence was committed.
What Does All That Mean?
1. You are innocent until proven guilty in a legal, fair, public trial.
It is the prosecution's job to prove guilt, not the defendant's job to prove innocence.
2. You should receive everything you need to mount a legal defense.
That includes access to your lawyer, the case file, and the case evidence.
3. You can't be found guilty of breaking a law that didn't exist when you "broke" it.
Any action or lack of action is only illegal if the law existed when said action was done.
4. Penalties are limited to what was applicable at the time the crime was committed, not current or future penalties.
Penalties for particular crimes may change with time, but harsher penalties cannot be given out if they did not exist when the crime was committed.
This human right is intended to prevent innocent men and women from being wrongfully convicted, but it is not respected in many countries.
One country whose justice system has been receiving attention lately is Japan.
Former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn was arrested late last year regarding alleged financial misconduct. His limited public appearances since then, along with his re-arrests since then have brought international scrutiny to the Japanese legal system, sometimes called "hostage justice".
In Japan, individuals who have been arrested can be held for 23 days without being charged. During those 23 days, detainees are constantly question and pressured to confess, even being yelled at from close range. This is all done without a lawyer present.
Most detainees are kept under constant surveillance, even when using the bathroom. They are often prohibited from contacting anyone other than their lawyer, not even their family. They are not allowed to request bail during this period.
Even when charged and allowed to request bail, those who did not confess or remained silent are often refused bail.
Investigators routinely use separate, small crimes or split up consolidated crimes in order to detain suspects repeatedly.
23 days becomes 46, becomes 69, becomes 92 -- months on end in detention, with the only end in sight being if you sign a confession.
Back in 2015, Mark Karpeles, CEO of the Mt. Gox bitcoin exchange, was arrested regarding the millions of dollars in bitcoin that went missing. He was arrested and re-arrested, in efforts to force a confession. In his own words:
“The more you try to deny being guilty, the harsher it gets.”
You can learn more about his story here:
Japan's hostage justice is not limited to foreigners like Ghosn and Karpeles. Japan's own people also suffer from this abusive system.
One man, Kazuo Ishikawa, spent 30 years in prison for a murder he did not commit. 24 years old and unable to read, he signed a confession after 30 days of interrogation.
Ishikawa was on death row for ten years before his sentence was commuted to life in prison. While on death row, he and the other inmates were not told when they were to be executed. They woke up every day, not knowing if it would be their last, forced to wait for hours to see if they would be allowed to live another day.
Hear Ishikawa's story from him:
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