SOVIET UNION-Completing the Breakup

were threatened with murder and rape and have been told constantly that they would be driven insane. Most often detainees have been blindfolded in order to protect the identities of the torturers. That confessions have been obtained from prisoners under duress has been confirmed by the number of cases in which courts have rejected confessions on this ground. Interestingly, civil courts have also granted compensation to several torture victims who have dared to file cases on the basis of evidence from doctors of the department of forensic medicine in the ministry of justice who have examined the claimants and confirmed that they had been tortured. The government has refused to use this evidence to punish the torturers or to comply with the requirements of the UN Convention against Torture.