Communist Attempts to Elicit False Confessions from Air Force Prisoners of War

Chinese manipulators did not use particularly novel tactics; they used interrogation methods which have been seen before and frequently in various institutions that use force.

North Korean prisoner studies show communist countries tend to use the same tactics.

Violence tends to reduce compliance but credible threat of violence increases it.

Communists requiring soldiers to sit or stand at attention for extended periods (hours to a week.) Believed to be more effective than direct torture because direct torture has a torturer vs victim psychology while being made to hold positions is a "victim versus themselves" strategy.

Trying to convince the prisoner that they are guilty of something and compliance offers forgiveness for having been guilty; and to be thankful of the interrogator for "saving" them from the "criminal enterprise" they were a part of.

In some instances failure to comply was the result of not understanding what the demands were; demands were often indirect or obfuscated to hide the goal of breaking the prisoner.

Torture methods

• Isolation
• Monopolization of perception
• Induced debilitation and exhaustion
• Threats
• Occasional indulgences