Efforts to combat COVID-19 perceived as morally right

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN, NEWS BUREAU

Research News 

IMAGE: WITH HIS COLLEAGUES, FAN XUAN CHEN, A DOCTORAL STUDENT IN PSYCHOLOGY AT THE U. OF I., FOUND THAT PEOPLE IN THE U.S. AND NEW ZEALAND TEND TO MORALIZE COVID-19 RESTRICTIONS... view more 

CREDIT: PHOTO BY L. BRIAN STAUFFER

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- According to new research, people tend to moralize COVID-19-control efforts and are more willing to endorse human costs emerging from COVID-19-related restrictions than to accept costs resulting from other restraints meant to prevent injury or death. The level of support - and resulting outrage in response to perceived violations of this moral ideal - differs between liberals and conservatives.

Reported in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, the study also finds that people are more tolerant of authorities who abuse their power to enforce COVID-19 health restrictions than they are of other abuses for the sake of public health and safety.

"Efforts aimed at eliminating COVID-19 have become moralized to the extent that people tend to overlook the associated costs," said Fan Xuan Chen, a doctoral student in psychology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign who conducted the study with Maja Graso, a senior lecturer at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand; and Tania Reynolds, a psychology professor at the University of New Mexico.

"Because COVID-19-related health strategies are so moralized, people really tolerate a wide range of restrictions and are willing to impose penalties on those who violate those strategies or even just speak out in favor of other approaches," Chen said.

Conducted with participants in the U.S. and New Zealand, the research was designed to better understand how moralizing public health issues influences people's perceptions of human suffering. The researchers say they do not advocate for any particular COVID-19-control policy.

"However, our results suggest that in our quest to combat COVID-19, we may overlook the collateral damage from these pursuits," Chen said.

In two experiments, the researchers asked American participants to evaluate the competence of public health experts and to rate their own moral outrage and willingness to shame or punish scientists who made mistakes or advocated for or against COVID-19 protective measures in the interest of saving lives.

In another experiment, Americans evaluated the harms resulting from a police officer who abused their authority to enforce COVID-19 restrictions or to stop people from speeding in traffic.

"In both cases, the degree of human suffering or cost was held constant, such that the officer cited and detained the same number of people to reduce the same number of deaths," Chen said. In each instance, participants decided whether to demote or reduce the pay of the officer - and by how much - and to rate the severity of harm inflicted by the officer.

In a separate experiment, New Zealanders were randomly assigned to evaluate either of two research proposals, one of which asked whether COVID-19-control efforts could cause more human suffering than not trying to control the spread of the disease, and one that asked whether the opposite could be true. Participants were asked to evaluate the quality of the proposal, the societal value of the research, the scientists' prestige and other factors related to the research.

"American participants evaluated the same costs - including public shaming, deaths and illnesses, and police abuse of power - as more acceptable when they resulted from efforts to minimize COVID-19's health impacts than when they challenged such efforts," Chen said. "New Zealanders were more favorably disposed to a research proposal that supported COVID-19-elimination efforts than to one that challenged those efforts, even when the methodological information and evidence supporting both proposals were equivalent."

The willingness to punish or shame a scientist for arguing against COVID-19-related restrictions or for a researcher who accidentally underestimated the severity of the pandemic increased with a participant's own level of concern about the risks associated with COVID-19.

"This pattern suggests that those who feel most vulnerable to COVID-19 could be especially likely to overlook the collateral costs of elimination efforts," Chen said.

In general, participants' willingness to punish a police officer who abused their position to catch people speeding was significantly greater than their desire to punish an officer who violated people's rights to enforce COVID-19-related restrictions.

The researchers also asked participants to indicate whether they were high or low in political conservatism.

"When we looked at the data, we saw that, compared with liberals, people who identify as very conservative have lower moral outrage in response to arguments against COVID-19 restrictions," Chen said. Yet, conservatives also became more outraged than liberals when a scientist challenged the state's decision to keep businesses open.

"So, there's a totally opposite trend in each condition, depending on which political ideology you are affiliated with," Chen said. "In psychology, this kind of crossover effect is very rare, and such a strong crossover effect is even more rare. These patterns suggest liberals and 

USC study: Young adults who identify as Republicans eschew COVID safety precautions

Politization of precautions unexpected among 18- to 25-year-olds

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

Research News

 

Young Californians who identify themselves as Republicans are less likely to follow social distancing guidelines that prevent coronavirus transmission than those who identify as Democrats or Independents, according to new USC study published today in JAMA Internal Medicine.

The findings among 18- to 25-year-olds mirror what many have observed about America's politicized response to COVID-19, and are a source of alarm for public health experts. The United States is now averaging 207,000 new cases and 2,319 deaths per day, as of Friday.

"You might expect middle-aged or older adults to have established ideologies that affect their health behavior, but to see it in young adults who have historically been less politically inclined is unexpected," said Adam Leventhal, director of the USC Institute for Addiction Science. "Regardless of age, we would never hope to find results like this. Public health practices should not correlate with politics."

The study was conducted during the summer of 2020 via an online survey that was completed by 2,065 18- to 25-year-olds living predominately in Los Angeles County. The participants were initially recruited as ninth-grade high school students as part of the USC Happiness & Health Project, which has been surveying this group about their health behaviors every six months since 2013.

Of the young adults contacted, 891 identified as Democrat, 148 as Republican, 320 as "Independent or Other," and 706 declined to answer or said they didn't know what political party they identify with.

Researchers found that 24.3% of Republican young adults said they don't frequently social distance from others, compared with just 5.2% of Democrats.

Differences in social distancing practices were also found when Republicans were compared to Independents and young adults who did not report a political party affiliation. Researchers discovered that Republicans versus other groups were more likely to visit public indoor venues such as malls, restaurants, bars or clubs, or attend or host parties with 10 people or more.

Throughout most of the COVID-19 pandemic, California has recommended that all residents practice social distancing and wear a mask when outside the home. Current restrictions prohibit private gatherings of any size.

Leventhal noted that when his team statistically adjusted for 21 factors that could explain the difference in social distancing across political party groups, including propensity for risk-taking behaviors, Republicans were 4 times more likely than the others to be infrequent social distancers.

He also said that the "blue county within a blue state" setting for the study underscores that the link between political party affiliation and social distancing cannot simply be reduced to an issue of urban vs. rural differences.

###

In addition to Leventhal, other authors of the politics and social distancing study include Jessica Barrington-Trimis, Rob McConnell, Jennifer Unger, Steve Sussman and Junhan Cho, all of USC; and Hongying Dai of the University of Nebraska.

The study was supported by grants from the National Cancer Institute (R01CA229617) and by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (K24DA048160.)

A non-destructive method for analyzing Ancient Egyptian embalming materials

AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY

Research News

 

IMAGE: RESEARCHERS ANALYZED EMBALMING MATERIAL FROM THE NECK OF THIS ANCIENT EGYPTIAN MUMMY, WHICH WAS ACQUIRED BY A FRENCH MUSEUM IN 1837. view more 

CREDIT: FRÉDÉRIQUE VINCENT, ETHNOGRAPHIC CONSERVATOR

Ancient Egyptian mummies have many tales to tell, but unlocking their secrets without destroying delicate remains is challenging. Now, researchers reporting in ACS' Analytical Chemistry have found a non-destructive way to analyze bitumen -- the compound that gives mummies their dark color -- in Ancient Egyptian embalming materials. The method provides clues to the bitumen's geographic origin and, in one experiment, revealed that a mummy in a French museum could have been partially restored, likely by collectors.

The embalming material used by Ancient Egyptians was a complex mixture of natural compounds such as sugar gum, beeswax, fats, coniferous resins and variable amounts of bitumen. Also known as asphalt or tar, bitumen is a black, highly viscous form of petroleum that arises primarily from fossilized algae and plants. Researchers have used various techniques to analyze Ancient Egyptian embalming materials, but they typically require preparation and separation steps that destroy the sample. Charles Dutoit, Didier Gourier and colleagues wondered if they could use a non-destructive technique called electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) to detect two components of bitumen formed during the decomposition of photosynthetic life: vanadyl porphyrins and carbonaceous radicals, which could provide information on the presence, origin and processing of bitumen in the embalming material.

The researchers obtained samples of black matter from an Ancient Egyptian sarcophagus (or coffin), two human mummies and four animal mummies (all from 744-30 B.C.), which they analyzed by EPR and compared to reference bitumen samples. The team discovered that the relative amounts of vanadyl compounds and carbonaceous radicals could differentiate between bitumen of marine origin (such as from the Dead Sea) and land-plant origin (from a tar pit). Also, they detected vanadyl compounds that likely formed from reactions between the vanadyl porphyrins and other embalming components. Intriguingly, the black matter taken from a human mummy acquired by a French museum in 1837 didn't contain any of these compounds, and it was very rich in bitumen. This mummy could have been partially restored with pure bitumen, probably by a private collector to fetch a higher price before the museum acquired it, the researchers say.

###

The authors acknowledge funding from Agence Nationale de la Recherche and the Centre de Recherche et de Restauration des Musées de France.

The abstract that accompanies this paper is available here.

The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. ACS' mission is to advance the broader chemistry enterprise and its practitioners for the benefit of Earth and its people. The Society is a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related information and research through its multiple research solutions, peer-reviewed journals, scientific conferences, eBooks and weekly news periodical Chemical & Engineering News. ACS journals are among the most cited, most trusted and most read within the scientific literature; however, ACS itself does not conduct chemical research. As a specialist in scientific information solutions (including SciFinder® and STN®), its CAS division powers global research, discovery and innovation. ACS' main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.  

To automatically receive news releases from the American Chemical Society, contact newsroom@acs.org.  

Follow us: Twitter | Facebook

The un-appeal of banana: liquid e-cigarette flavorings measurably injure lungs

UC San Diego researchers report chemicals used for flavor in e-cigarette liquid negatively affect specialized proteins that support immune system

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA - SAN DIEGO

Research News

 

Known for their appetizing flavors, such as bubblegum, banana and strawberry, e-cigarettes continue to grow in popularity around the world. Promoted by makers as a "healthy" alternative to regular tobacco cigarettes, researchers are finding e-cigarettes, or vaping, still result in injury to the lungs.

In a recent study published in the American Journal of Physiology, teams at University of California San Diego School of Medicine, the Royal Adelaide Hospital and the University of Adelaide School of Medicine in Australia found that the flavoring chemicals of e-cigarette vapor alone can measurably damage the lungs, regardless of the presence of nicotine.

"Ninety-nine percent of e-cigarette liquids are flavored. To create these flavor profiles, companies are adding multiple chemicals to achieve that 'perfect' taste," said Laura Crotty Alexander, MD, associate professor of medicine in the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine at UC San Diego School of Medicine and section chief of Pulmonary Critical Care at Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System. "These chemicals have been found to be toxic to the lungs. When inhaled, they wreak havoc on the lungs and affect specialized protein levels that help keep the body's immune system on track."

Working with 21 different adults who regularly vaped, the team at UC San Diego found changes in certain inflammatory proteins known to cause disease. In each individual who used e-cigarettes, they discovered irregular protein levels within their saliva and airways compared to individuals who did not vape.

Scientists at University of Adelaide then used in vitro methodologies to observe how human airway cells reacted to vapor applied directly to them from 10 flavored liquids used in e-cigarettes. After exposure, they reported that all of the e-liquids damaged cells, with some flavors being more toxic than others.

Combined, the researchers said the data suggests people who use flavored e-cigarettes are damaging their lungs every time they vape. Among the most toxic: chemical profiles for some chocolate and banana flavors.

"Our study demonstrated to us that the name on the bottle is not what is important, it is what goes into the e-liquids and e-cigarettes that matters," said first author Miranda Ween, PhD, senior postdoctoral researcher in the Lung Research Laboratory at the University of Adelaide and Royal Adelaide Hospital, Australia. "Lung cell toxicity and bacterial clearance by the lung's alveolar macrophages was affected by almost every flavor. Chocolate in particular had an unexpectedly high impact, killing almost all the cells and blocking the ability of macrophages to clear away bacteria almost entirely."

Alveolar macrophages initiate inflammatory responses when harmful organisms are detected in the body. Like street sweepers for the lungs, they are powerful immune cells that continuously devour inhaled bacteria and foreign matter entering the lungs.

"Alveolar macrophages are one of the most important immune cells in our lungs; they are designed to maintain the body's homeostasis," said Crotty Alexander. "These macrophages are the first cells to be exposed when a person inhales vapor. When the vapor is toxic, such as in e-cigarettes, these cells trigger an inflammatory response that disrupts the body's homeostasis, resulting in disease and lung damage."

"Our research shows that allowed flavors for e-cigarettes need to be better defined," said Ween. "This could easily be achieved by limiting e-liquids to a single flavoring chemical which has been tested and safety concentrations determined, research that is unfortunately lacking for something that is so popular worldwide."

###

Co-authors include: John Shin, Christine Bojanowski, Alex Moshensky, UC San Diego and Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System; Nicole Bastian, Rhys Hamon, Arash Badiei, Phan Tien Nguyen, Kirsty Herewane, Hubertus Jersmann, Paul N. Reynolds, Sandra J. Hodge, University of Adelaide School of Medicine and Royal Adelaide Hospital; Leigh Thredgold, University of Adelaide School of Public Health.

Aroma diffuser and plastic bag offer inexpensive method to test fit of face masks at home

UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE

Research News

 

Researchers have developed a way to use a simple home aroma diffuser to test whether N95 and other types of sealing masks, such as KN95 and FFP2 masks, are properly fitted, a result which could be used to help protect healthcare workers and the public from contracting or transmitting COVID-19.

The researchers, from the University of Cambridge, tested a variety of materials to construct a new inexpensive and reliable method for assessing the fit of masks. Commercial testing equipment has been in extremely short supply since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, forcing many healthcare institutions to abandon regular fit-testing of their staff.

Their results, published in the journal Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness, found that widely-available alternatives, such as aroma diffusers and extra-large freezer bags, can be used to make a qualitative fit-testing setup which performs at a similar level to commercial solutions.

While commercial kits typically cost several hundred pounds, the Cambridge setup can be made for under £35. In addition to its potential benefits to the healthcare industry, this inexpensive setup can be used by anyone who wants to test the fit of their mask at home.

The researchers caution, however, that their setup will only test the fit of sealing masks with high filtration ability, such as N95, FFP3, KN95 or FFP2 masks. The method cannot be used to test the fit of surgical or fabric masks, as these do not typically offer the fit or filtration necessary to pass a qualitative fit-test.

Sealing masks offer the wearer a high level of protection, but only if they fit properly, with no gaps between the mask and the wearer's face. Previous studies have found that even if the mask material is highly efficient at filtering fine particles, the effectiveness of the mask is hampered by an imperfect seal.

"So far, there has not been an inexpensive, accessible, and reliable way of testing the fit of sealing masks," said Eugenia O'Kelly from Cambridge's Department of Engineering, the study's first author. "Shortages of the fit-testing equipment that healthcare facilities normally use have left some of them unable to test their workers. And those who do not work in healthcare have had no reliable way to ensure their masks fit."

Most healthcare facilities use qualitative fit-testing methods on their staff, as these are faster and cheaper than quantitative methods. Qualitative fit-testing requires three key pieces of equipment: a testing solution, a diffuser to atomise the solution, and a testing hood.

To carry out a typical fit-test, a user places the hood over their head while wearing a mask, and the solution is aerosolised into the enclosure as a fine mist. The solution is usually sweet or bitter. The fit of the mask is assessed by how well the user can taste the solution while nodding their head or speaking. If the mask fits the wearer, they will not be able to taste the solution.

When COVID-19 struck, the increase in demand for fit-testing supplies, combined with breakdowns in manufacturing and supply chains, meant it became very difficult to get qualitative test equipment, with wait times extending weeks or even months.

"Solving the fit-testing supply crisis is critical to enable hospitals and businesses to properly protect their workers," said O'Kelly.

Meanwhile, those outside of healthcare facilities who use non-sealing face masks are left with no reliable way to determine the fit of their masks. "Many people are using KN95 or FFP2 masks," said O'Kelly. "While these masks can offer high levels of protection, they do not fit everyone. We also wanted to offer a way for the public, particularly those who are at high risk, to evaluate the fit of these masks for themselves."

Previous research has assessed the safety and efficacy of homemade testing solutions; however, no effective alternatives to the atomising equipment or enclosures had yet been identified.

Now, the researchers have identified alternatives to these pieces of the testing apparatus which are around a quarter of the cost of commercial equipment and are readily available from many retailers, including Amazon.

To diffuse the solution, the researchers tested an aroma diffuser, humidifier, mist maker and spray bottle. For the enclosure, they tested a plastic bag, testing hood, a clear storage cube and no enclosure. Testers first underwent quantitative fit-testing to assess the fit on their faces before the qualitative methods. Quantitative testing measures the number of particles inside and outside the mask and is highly accurate. However, it is also time-consuming and expensive, which is why qualitative testing is more frequently used in healthcare settings.

Using an N95 mask from 3M and a KN95 mask from a Chinese manufacturer, the testers then assessed the alternative devices and enclosures. A solution of sodium saccharin - an artificial sweetener - was aerosolised for 60 seconds at a time, and testers were asked whether they could taste the sweetener or not. The test was then repeated with the tester causing an intentional gap in the fit by placing the tip of a finger between the mask and their face.

They found that the combination of an aroma diffuser and a small container, such as a large plastic bag, provided the most accurate and most sensitive setup, with results comparable to commercial qualitative fit-testing solutions.

"Our homemade replacement requires further testing for safety and efficacy: in particular, the use of a plastic bag to concentrate the vapour remains a safety concern," said O'Kelly. "However, we were happy to find an inexpensive setup to assess the fit of masks when used in combination with homemade fit-testing solution. Given the importance of masks in slowing the spread of COVID-19 and other airborne viruses, it's essential that they fit properly, especially in healthcare settings."

###

Shark fishing bans partially effective

UNIVERSITY OF EXETER

Research News

 

IMAGE: SHARKS IN A MARKET IN SRI LANKA view more 

CREDIT: CLAIRE COLLINS

Bans on shark fishing are only partially effective in protecting sharks, new research suggests.

Scientists from the University of Exeter, international conservation charity ZSL (Zoological Society of London) and Sri Lankan NGO Oceanswell examined the effects of a blanket ban on landing thresher sharks, brought in by the Sri Lankan government in 2012.

Information gathered from local fishers suggests the ban has stopped targeted fishing for the sharks - but persistent "bycatch" (accidental catching) continues.

The study also found that bycatch appears to be widely unrecorded, partly due to "mistrust and confusion" amongst fishers.

"Sri Lanka's long-standing ban offers us an opportunity to assess the impacts of bans, which are increasingly being implemented globally to protect sharks," said lead author Claire Collins, of the University of Exeter and ZSL's Institute of Zoology.

"The ban has almost completely halted targeted fishing for these sharks, so in this sense it has been very successful.

"However, continued bycatch is a problem not only because of the direct impact on this vulnerable species, but also because it makes it tempting for fishers to get round the ban.

"Because it is easy to conceal threshers as other shark species, by cutting fins off before landing, fishers can sell them easily and the ban can be hard for authorities to enforce.

"Without addressing continued bycatch, there's always going to be a temptation to land these sharks - especially because in Sri Lanka there is a strong market for shark meat as well as fins."

The study does not address ways to reduce bycatch, but methods could include local fishing bans in areas known for sharks, modifying fishing gear, and reducing the time gear is left in the water so sharks caught by accident have a higher chance of being freed before they die.

Thresher shark

Oceanswell researchers gathered data from fishers over a ten-month period last year.

Despite many fishers reporting feeling disengaged with authorities in advance of the ban, compliance with it was very high among communities that used to rely on threshers for their livelihoods.

The study notes "unequal" impacts of the ban.

Unsurprisingly, fishers involved in targeted shark fishing were affected most severely, and the researchers say such impacts should be mitigated whenever possible.

Dr Ana Nuno, senior author of the paper, based at University of Exeter and NOVA University Lisbon (Portugal), added: "If we want conservation and fisheries policies to work, we need to get much better at understanding how they might impact resource users and take that into account during policy design.

"That's key to implementing robust policies that deliver positive outcomes for people and biodiversity."

###

The study was funded as part of the Bertarelli Programme in Marine Science.

The paper, published in the journal Marine Policy, is entitled: "Using perceptions to examine human responses to blanket bans: The case of the thresher shark landing-ban in Sri Lanka."

How the spread of the internet is changing migration

Team of international researchers trace digital steps along the migration path

MCGILL UNIVERSITY

Research News

 

The spread of the Internet is shaping migration in profound ways. A McGill-led study of over 150 countries links Internet penetration with migration intentions and behaviours, suggesting that digital connectivity plays a key role in migration decisions and actively supports the migration process.

Countries with higher proportions of Internet users tend to have more people who are willing to emigrate. At the individual level, the association between Internet use and intention to migrate is stronger among women and those with less education. The same result was found for economic migrants compared to political migrants, according to the team of international researchers from McGill University, University of Oxford, University of Calabria, and Bocconi University.

"The digital revolution brought about by the advent of the Internet has transformed our societies, economies, and way of life. Migration is no exception in this revolution," says co-author Luca Maria Pesando, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology and Centre on Population Dynamics at McGill University.

In the study, published in Population and Development Review, the researchers tracked Internet use and migration pathways with data from the World Bank, the International Telecommunication Union, the Global Peace Index, the Arab Barometer, and the Gallup World Poll, an international survey of citizens across 160 countries.

Their findings underscore the importance of the Internet as an informational channel for migrants who leave their country in search of better opportunities. Unlike political migrants, who might be pushed, for example, by the sudden explosion of a civil conflict, economic migrants' decisions are more likely to benefit from access to information provided by the Internet, and more likely to be shaped by aspirations of brighter futures in their destination countries.

"The Internet not only gives us access to more information; it allows us to easily compare ourselves to others living in other - often wealthier - countries through social media," says Pesando.

Case study of Italy

Looking at migration data in Italy - a country that has witnessed sizeable increases in migrant inflows over the past two decades - the researchers found a strong correlation between Internet use in migrants' countries of origin, and the presence of people from that country in the Italian population register in the following year. Tracking migrants including asylum seekers and refugees passing through the Sant'Anna immigration Centre in Calabria, the researchers also found a link between migrants' digital skills and knowledge of the Internet and voluntary departure from the Centre in search of better economic opportunities.

"Our findings contribute to the growing research on digital demography, where Internet-generated data or digital breadcrumbs are used to study migration and other demographic phenomena," says Pesando. "Our work suggests that the Internet acts not just as an instrument to observe migration behaviors, but indeed actively supports the migration process."

As next steps, the research team, which includes Francesco Billari of Bocconi University and Ridhi Kashyap and Valentina Rotondi of University of Oxford, will explore how digital technology and connectivity affect social development outcomes, ranging from women's empowerment to reproductive health and children's wellbeing across generations.

###

About the study

"The Internetization of International Migration" by Luca Maria Pesando, Valentina Rotondi, Manuela Stranges, Ridhi Kashyap, and Francesco C. Billari was published in Population and Development Review. The research was supported by the European Research Council (ERC) grant on "Discontinuities in Household and Family Formation.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/padr.12371

About McGill University

Founded in Montreal, Quebec, in 1821, McGill University is Canada's top ranked medical doctoral university. McGill is consistently ranked as one of the top universities, both nationally and internationally. It?is a world-renowned?institution of higher learning with research activities spanning two campuses, 11 faculties, 13 professional schools, 300 programs of study and over 40,000 students, including more than 10,200 graduate students. McGill attracts students from over 150 countries around the world, its 12,800 international students making up 31% of the student body. Over half of McGill students claim a first language other than English, including approximately 19% of our students who say French is their mother tongue.

http://www.mcgill.ca/newsroom/

South Korean man cleared of killing teenager after spending 20 years in jail for her murder

By Julia Hollingsworth, Yoonjung Seo and Jake Kwon, CNN


 Thu December 17, 2020



The high school graduation photo of Lee Chun-jae, left, and a facial composite of the Hwaseong serial killer / Korea Times

Seoul, South Korea (CNN)A man who wrongfully spent 20 years in prison for killing a teenager has been cleared of her murder following a high-profile court case in South Korea that exposed police torture and investigation failures.
Yoon Seong-yeo -- now in his 50s -- was found not guilty Thursday following a retrial in the northwestern city of Suwon over the 1988 rape and murder of a 13-year-old in her bedroom in Hwaseong, then a rural, undeveloped area near the country's capital Seoul.
The teenager was one of 10 killed in the area between 1986 and 1991 in a spate of high-profile deaths known as the Hwaseong murders. Yoon was the only person ever convicted in connection to the killings. He was sentenced to life in prison and ultimately spent 20 years behind bars for the 13-year-old's rape and murder.

He spent 20 years in prison for murder. Then someone else confessed to the same crime

In a verdict released Thursday, judge Park Jeong-je found that police had used torture, including sleep deprivation, and illegal detainment to obtain Yoon's confession to the 1988 murder.

"As a member of the judiciary, I apologize to the accused, who suffered great physical and mental pain, for the court's failure to function properly as the last bastion of human rights," he said. We sincerely hope that the retrial of this case will be a little consoling and contribute to the restoration of the accused's honor."

The result means Yoon's name is finally cleared -- more than 30 years after the murder took place. It's also a rare outcome in South Korea, where only a tiny fraction of applications for retrials are accepted, according to experts.

"I'm relieved that the final ruling found me innocent," Yoon said following the verdict. "I can let down this heavy load I've been carrying for 30 years and get some rest."

Yoon has claimed his innocence for years, but was only granted a retrial after police made a breakthrough in the case last year.

In September, police announced that new DNA evidence linked at least some of the Hwaseong murders to Lee Chun-jae, who has been in prison since 1994 for the rape and murder of his sister-in-law. The following month, Lee confessed to all 10 of the murders and another four that police did not provide details on.

Coerced confession

At the months-long retrial, Yoon's lawyers argued that their client -- who was a 22-year-old, uneducated repairman with a limp from childhood polio when he was arrested -- was coerced by police into confessing.

Yoon told CNN that he was handcuffed in a room for three days, was not allowed to sleep, and barely ate during the interrogation.

30 years ago, he was wrongfully convicted of murder. Now police have apologized for forcing him to make a false confession

In July, Gyeonggi Nambu Provicial Police Agency chief Bae Yong-ju admitted that during the initial investigation in 1989, police assaulted Yoon and coerced him into making a false confession.

"We bow down and apologize to all victims of the crimes of Lee Chun-jae, families of victims, and victims of police investigations, including Yoon," Bae said, noting others had suffered from "police malpractice" during the initial Hwaseong investigation.

According to Lee Soo-jung, a forensic psychology professor at Kyonggi University, it was common in the 1980s for suspected criminals in South Korea to be kept awake for long periods to extract a confession. Sleep deprivation is considered a form of torture.

In an interview with CNN in November, Korean National Police Agency commissioner general Kim Chang-yong said last year's police investigation revealed that police had used illegal confinement and incorrect investigation techniques. He said the decision to reveal past wrongdoing showed police commitment to not making the same mistakes.

"It was a shameful, illegal investigation," he said. "I believe that it should never happen again and that's why we need checks and balances. Police are working hard not to repeat past mistakes."

Cold case solved

For decades, the Hwaseong murders -- which were revisited in "Memories of Murder," a 2003 film by "Parasite" director Bong Joon Ho -- remained unsolved. Lee's confession may have helped bring some closure to the families of the victims.

Kim said police profilers interviewed Lee 52 times over nearly seven months before he admitted to all the crimes he had committed. "He did not confess easily," Kim said.

On one remarkable session in November during the months-long retrial, Lee took the stand to confess to the killings in front of Yoon. He said he didn't know why he hadn't been a suspect during the initial investigation, and said he had even been questioned by police at the time of the killings when he had a watch belonging to one of the victims on his person.

"I didn't think the crimes would be buried forever," Lee said. "I came and testified and described the crimes in hopes for (the victims and their families) to find some comfort when the truth is revealed. I'll live my life with repent."

What happens next

Yoon can now seek compensation for the 20 years he spent wrongfully imprisoned. One of Yoon's lawyers, Park Joon-young, told CNN earlier this year that Yoon could probably expect more than $1 million in compensation.

Yoon has previously told CNN that no amount of money can compensate him for the years he spent in prison and the impact on his reputation and family.

Police are planning to issue a white paper on the Hwaseong case and police failures during the initial investigation. Kim said it is "impossible" to imagine such failings happening now.
There is unlikely to be justice for the families of the Hwaseong victims.

Even though Lee has confessed to the murders, he cannot be prosecuted for the Hwaseong cases as the statute of limitations on those killings has expired.

US man jailed for nearly four decades is freed after witness admits to lying
Omar Abdel-Baqui Dec 16 2020

JUNFU HAN/DETROIT FREE PRESS/TNS
Walter Forbes, 63, became a free man on November 20, after more than 37 years in prison.

US man Walter Forbes was a full-time student at Jackson Community College in 1982. He had dreams of owning a real estate development firm after graduating.

One night that year, Forbes broke up a bar fight. He didn’t know that would change his life forever.

A man involved in the bar fight shot Forbes the next day, according to court documents.

The damage the gunshot did to Forbes’ body may have taken a few months to heal, but what happened next led to him spending nearly four decades in prison, leaving deep lifelong wounds on him and his family.

The man who shot Forbes, Dennis Hall, died in his apartment on Maple Street in Jackson in a fire that appeared to be deliberately set on July 12, 1982.

Because Hall and Forbes were recently involved in an altercation, police considered Forbes a suspect in the arson. Police arrested him at his home.

Forbes was convicted of arson and murder in May 1983 and was sentenced to life in prison.

Forbes, 63, became a free man on November 20, more than 37 years following his conviction, after the prosecution’s star witness admitted to fabricating her story and evidence surfaced that the fire may have been part of an insurance fraud scheme orchestrated by the Maple Street building owner, leading to a retrial, according to documents filed in Jackson County Circuit Court.

“It felt like all the possibilities that I was working on all those years were coming to fruition,” Forbes said about when truth was coming to light. “I didn’t think it would take that long, but patience paid off.”

Witness comes forward

Key evidence used to implicate Forbes was witness testimony from a woman, Annice Kennebrew, who said she saw three men, including Forbes, burn down the century-old, two-story house-turned-apartment on Maple Street.

Kennebrew’s testimony contained discrepancies, leading one of the three men to have charges against him dismissed after he passed a polygraph test and the other to be acquitted, according to court documents. Forbes was the only one convicted, likely because of the tension between him and the victim, his attorney said.

Forbes and his attorney said that the burden of proof was placed on Forbes, that the jury saw him as guilty until he could prove himself innocent from the minute the trial began.

“Merely being arrested and charged suggests to the jury that something happened even though they should be scrutinising the evidence and presuming innocence,” Forbes’ attorney, Imran Syed of the Michigan Innocence Clinic, told the Detroit Free Press. "No jury wants to believe that a prosecutor went through the trouble of bringing someone to trial if they’re truly innocent.”

Kennebrew admitted in 2017 that she had lied – that she never saw Forbes at the scene of the fire, according to court documents.

After a judge granted an evidentiary hearing in February 2020, Kennebrew testified “that she had falsely implicated Mr Forbes because she had been (intimidated) into doing so by two local men who knew her from around the neighborhood and who had threatened to harm her and her family if she did not implicate Mr Forbes,” according to court documents.

“Even though it took forever, I’m still grateful she did the right thing, that she did finally tell the truth,” Forbes said.

Kennebrew (whose last name was Gibson in 1982) did not return messages from the Detroit Free Press.

A witness who knowingly lied under oath could be charged with perjury, however, the statute of limitations for the crime is generally six years, Syed said. A perjury charge in this case can be dangerous and counterproductive, he added.

“We want people who lied to come forward,” he said. “The community as a whole is harmed if lies remain hidden forever.”

JUNFU HAN/DETROIT FREE PRESS/TNS
“It felt like all the possibilities that I was working on all those years were coming to fruition,” Walter Forbes said about when truth was coming to light. “I didn’t think it would take that long, but patience paid off.”

Fire for insurance funds

As for the alleged arson-for-insurance-money scheme, the Maple Street building’s owner, David Jones, was convicted in a separate arson conspiracy scheme in Livingston County in 1990.

A man died in the Livingston County fire as well, court documents say, and the two people who admitted to conspiring with Jones to burn the building down in 1990 told police that they were aware of Jones’ role in the 1982 Maple Street fire.

Jones received over US$50,000 (NZ$70,000) in insurance money for the Maple Street fire, far above market value for the building. He had bought the property more than eight years before the fire but only insured it two months before the fire, according to court documents that cited reports from the fire investigator on the case.

Jones died a few years before the Michigan Innocence Clinic took on Forbes’ case in 2010. He cannot be criminally charged posthumously.

“I don’t hold contempt for the people who lied to convict me,” Forbes said. “The reason is selfish: I wasn’t going to allow them to destroy me.

“If I didn’t forgive, it wouldn’t be detrimental to them, it would be detrimental to me.”

A new beginning

Forbes is a man of few words. He takes his time to process questions directed toward him and concisely responds in his low-pitched, soothing voice.

He recoiled when asked about his faith in the American justice system.

“Calling it the justice system gives a false impression. Just using the term ‘justice’ gives you the sense that it is a just system,” Forbes said.

Black people make up about 13 per cent of the US population but account for about half of all exonerations and 54 per cent of homicide exonerations since 1989, according to the National Registry of Exonerations.

Forbes spoke about his perspective as a young Black man in the 1980s, imprisoned against his will by a system that has “justice” in its name for something he didn’t do.

“I couldn’t believe it was happening. One of the things I had faith in was that the truth was going to come out, that there was no way they were going to convict me for those lies,” Forbes said. “Up until I was convicted, I thought the system would work, that it would correct itself. In hindsight, I was naive.”

Although cognizant of the system that oppressed him, Forbes’ manner isn’t one of someone who is spiteful, rather it’s of a man who worked to find inner peace.

Forbes spoke about a few things that helped him get through the over 13,000 days and nights in prison.

He would wake up in the middle of the night, at 2 or 3am, and meditate.

“I always knew what the end result was going to be, but I had no clue what I had to go through or who was going to be of help along the way,” Forbes said. “Surest thing I knew was I had to keep moving forward.”

It wasn’t until November he realised it was actually happening – that he was going to be a free man and that his name would be cleared.

Forbes spoke with his family often while in prison: sometimes weekly, sometimes several times a day. He knew that he would have a support system once released, and that gave him comfort, he said.

“Seeing my family for the first time, it was one of those moments where all you can do is grin,” Forbes said.

Forbes is currently staying with family in metro Detroit and plans on visiting his mum, 94, in Mississippi in the coming weeks. He had planned to see his mother right away but thought it would be best to do what he had done for the past four decades: patiently wait, in this case, for Covid-19 infection rates to decrease.

Forbes is now the patriarch of a family that had been missing one, his relatives said. His wisdom and insight is revered.

“He’s been able to bring a lot of our family together already – family I didn’t really know before,” Forbes’ nephew, Imil Forbes, 40, said. “We’re now getting together and creating a strong bond.

“We needed him out here for us to come together like that.”

Forbes’ biological son, Runako Forbes, 42, hadn’t gotten to know his father until he was 13.

Runako Forbes was adopted. He didn’t fully comprehend where Forbes was and why until meeting him as a teenager.

Runako Forbes recounted meeting his dad for the first time: “There were a lot of people in the visiting room. I remember looking over my shoulders, seeing him and knowing that he was my dad. I had never seen a picture of him before, but in my heart I just knew that was him. He finally came up to me and hugged me. I knew I was right.”

He said he loved his father before he had ever met him, and that once he understood the situation and knew that his father was innocent, he grew angry.

“I can’t pretend like there wasn’t a lot of bitterness I had toward the world,” he said. “But I try to go more off his demeanor. He’s more patient than me. He would never say ‘couldn’t’ or ‘can’t’.”
Liberated but not yet independent

Forbes’ first order of business as a free man is to become independent with the help of his family and adjust to a world much different than the one he knew before being locked up, he said.

Readjusting won’t be seamless, Forbes said. For instance, a piece of technology so essential to our daily lives hadn’t existed before his conviction.

Forbes laughed when talking about smartphones.

“I might spend half an hour figuring out what takes someone else 20 seconds,” he said. “I’ll be missing calls because the phone be acting up on me. I don’t know how to operate it yet.”

But he reflects on his time in prison, when he would hear people’s problems in the outside world and wished his problems were as trivial.

“The challenges of readjusting to life outside prison, I see it as part of the process,” Forbes said. “I recognise what I can control and can’t, and when I do see challenges, I don’t stress and I try to find a solution to them.”

Forbes is more focused on the luxuries absent in prison that he can now access.

“A lot of things you don’t realise you miss because they just faded away,” he said.

Once somewhat readjusted, Forbes wants to be an entrepreneur, collaborating with friends on their existing companies. He’s especially interested in construction.

Chiefly, he said, he wants to ease suffering in the world and spread good where he can.

“I am still trying to figure out the most effective way to help others,” Forbes said.

Forbes said upon his release, his thoughts were directed toward the prisoners of Kinross Correctional Facility, the last of about a dozen facilities he was imprisoned at and where as of December 4 there were over 1000 active positive coronavirus cases, according to Michigan Department of Corrections data.

Michigan in 2016 passed a law that allows wrongfully convicted people to receive US$50,000 for each year they were imprisoned. Having been convicted for over 37 years, Forbes is entitled to nearly US$2 million in compensation from the state, but the money won’t come for months, Syed, his attorney, said.

Forbes said the wrongfully convicted must keep a positive mindset and remain motivated to uncover the truth.

“Work harder on your case than anyone else,” he said. “You have to be the driving force behind your own liberation.”

- Detroit Free Press

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

INDIA
Police raid factory making counterfeit spices ‘out of donkey dung and acid’

Police find donkey dung, hay, inedible colours and drums full of acid in the factory during the raid

Stuti Mishra in Delhi@StuteeMishra

Indian factory creating fake spices with donkey dung busted
(AFP via Getty Images)

Police in India’s northern state of Uttar Pradesh say they have busted a factory producing fake spices using donkey dung, acid and other such spurious ingredients.

The factory based in Agra, the city famous for the Taj Mahal, was raided on Monday by officers who found large quantities of different types of counterfeit spices including red chilli powder, coriander powder, turmeric and garam masala (mixed spices) which were being readied to be sold under the names of several local brands, according to a report by the Times of India newspaper.

The city’s joint magistrate Prem Prakash Meena said in a statement that the authorities seized over 300kg of counterfeit spices and also found “donkey dung, hay, inedible colours and drums full of acid” that manufacturers were using to create the fake condiments.

The authorities say they have sent 27 samples to labs for testing. A case has been registered against the owner of the factory, Anoop Varshney, who is a member of Hindu Yuva Vahini, a right wing Hindu organisation founded by the chief minister of the state Yogi Adityanath.

According to Mr Meena, the owner also failed to provide a licence for operating the spice factory or the registration of brands under which the spices were being prepared to be sold.

The authorities are now investigating where these counterfeit spices or the ingredients were being supplied and sold and if it is going to cause any serious health hazards to those who may have consumed it.

Food adulteration in India is a common problem and several such factories producing counterfeit products have been busted by the police in the past. Last month a factory was raided in the southern city of Cuttack where adulterated spices like turmeric and chilli powder were being produced.