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THE DARK SIDE
OF “TRUTH SERUM”
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Philip P. Eapen |
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Narco-analyis amount
to torture, according to the UN. Yet, we pretend
to have discovered a
magical solution that will perfect our inept and
shoddy investigations.
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I could only watch with horror the
television footage of a "narco-analayis" in progress. A
"suspect" in the Noida murder case was being
interrogated with loaded questions. “Why did you murder
Aarushi?” the interrogator asked.
The interrogator assumed that the "suspect" has
committed the murder. There's too much of assumption
here that amounts to harrasment. Questions that are shot
at the "suspect" are designed to provoke and harass
quite like the loaded law-school graduate's question:
"Have you stopped the practice of wife-beating?" Any
witness who faces this question will be perplexed. He
will be in trouble if he answers "yes" or "no". Either
way, he could get implicated for battering his wife.
The suspect, in the Noida murder case, who was almost
asleep under the influence of a dangerous drug
(barbiturate), answered that he knew nothing about the
murder.
Still, the interrogator tried her level best to elicit a
"suitable" answer from the suspect. “What weapon did you
use to murder her?” “Where did you throw her mobile
phone?”
At one point, the interrogation got to such a deplorable
level that the interrogator asked, “Just hazard a guess,
why did your friend murder Aarushi?” Desperate measures,
indeed, to plant an answer in the suspect's mouth. The
CBI's desperation to make a suspect “hazard a guess”
reminds me of a US police team's attempt to implicate
suspects through the dreams they were made to narrate!
("The Innocent Man" chronicled by Joh n Grisham.)
How scientific or reliable is narco-analysis in leading
us to the truth behind a crime? Is it humane? Does it
violate the inalienable rights to privacy and life?
Without answering these questions, our government
agencies are increasingly recommending or accepting
narco-analysis as a part of their investigations. Our
police departments often lack men who have basic
investigative skills. When the police is under pressure
to solve a case, they resort to narco-analysis, instead
of using their sleuthing skills.
The results of narco-analysis are not admissible in any
court of law. However, evidences obtained as a result of
confessions made during the test are admissible in
courts.
Narco-analysis, unfortunately, is becoming a household
term in India. The police and other investigating
agencies consider it to be a necessary tool for making
their suspects sing. We have hereby seen a string of
investigations in which this “tool” was used. At the
Forensic Science Laboratory in Bangalore, there is a
waiting list of “suspects” who will eventually be
subjected to this procedure. Narco-analysis was used on
suspects involved in the Nithari murder case, Abhya
murder case, Mumbai train blast, Stamp paper scam, and
the Godhra case.
Narco-analysis is not a new technique. In the 1920s and
30s, narco-analysis was used during the course of
psychoanalysis. During this procedure, a subject is
interrogated after a sleep-like state is induced with
the help of a barbiturate (sodium pentothal) or similar
drug.
It is believed that such chemicals as sodium pentothal
take away the subject's power to resist interrogation.
However, there is still no scientific evidence to prove
the veracity of the statements given by a person during
narco-analysis. The CIA admitted to having used “truth
serums” both before and after the World Wars. However,
the CIA concedes that statements made during
narco-analyses may be the result of “psychotic
manifestations... hallucinations, illusions, delusions
or disorientation.”
There is also no such thing as “correct dose” of
barbiturate. Doctors decide on a certain dose after
considering the health of a subject. If the dose should
exceed a certain limit, the subject could go into a coma
or even die. The quest for “truth,” it seems, is more
important than a person right to life and dignity.
Even if narco-analysis should yield “the truth and
nothing but the truth,” should any civilized nation be
using it?
Dr. P. Chandra Sekharan, the former Director of the
Forensic Sciences Department of Tamil Nadu, has
characterized the “test” as an unscientific,
third-degree method of investigation. Nevertheless,
certain sections of the police and government think that
narco-analysis is indeed better that physical torture
meted out to suspects in police stations. The question
we need to ask is, Isn't narco-analysis too a form of
torture? Can we replace one form of torture with
another?
According to the United Nations' definition of torture,
narco-analysis is indeed a form of torture. UN
definition of torture has four components: it produces
physical/mental suffering and is degrading; it is
intentionally inflicted; it is intended for purposes
such as getting information, confessions, etc; and it is
inflicted by an official. All four conditions are
fulfilled by narco-analysis.
The whole procedure of narco-analysis is captured on
video to ensure that no undue coercion is exercised on a
subject. However, anyone who views the video recordings
(quiet a few were aired by Indian television channels)
will feel that the subject is being treated unfairly.
The whole exercise is like stripping a person naked
after drugging him or her! The right to privacy is
violated. Every individual regardless of the nature of
his crime - has the right to remain silent and to
refrain from making self-incriminating statements.
Narco-analysis tramples upon these inalienable rights.
If India values freedom and liberty and the rights of
the individual, if we have any regard for the worth of a
human being, if we have enough humanity in us to deny
torture, then we will stop this barbaric practice of
truth-extraction.
Let our law enforcement agencies and investigating
agencies come up with advanced scientific and
technological ways to prevent crime. Let them learn how
to collect and collate evidence so as to win convictions
in courts of law.
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This page
is updated on Mar 08, 2010 |
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PRAISE THE ALMIGHTY
10 YEARS CELEBRATION
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