SECRET

c. Treatment of Accused Persons in Court
Important trials tend to have a circus atmosphere, with radio
broadcasters, and newsreel cameramen free to roam about at will. This is defi-
nitely contrary to prevailing practice in the United States. Since most in-
stances in which Korean courts would demand jurisdiction over United States
personnel would probably be cases of the lurid or otherwise sensational variety,
the dignity of the military is not likely to be enhanced.

Furthermore, prisoners in Korean courts are normally brought in for trial
wearing prison uniforms and handcuffs, a humiliation inconsistent with the
jdea that an accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty, and accused per-=
sons are often tried although they are so ill they must be brought into court
on litters, in which case they are hardly able to understand the proceedings
and participate in the defense. In at least two of the recent revolutionary
trials, in fact, the accused were in such poor condition they literally had
to be held upright by others, and in another case, the accused, a litter case,
had to beg to be excused from the trial, an excuse granted only prudgingly by
the court.

It should be made clear by appropriate Korean court rules or by provi-
sion in a Status of Forces Agreement, that trials of United States personnel
must be carried out under dignified conditions, with the accused in appropriate
military uniform or civilian attire, and unmanacled, and with radio and news-
reels excluded from the actual court proceedings, and, further, that no accused
should be brought to trial until a United States medical officer certifies
that he is fit to stand trial and participate in his defense.

Recommendation: That a Status of Forces Agreement guarantee trial conso-

 

nant with the dignity of the U. S. armed forces, including the right to wear

appropriate civilian or military attire, to be free of bodily restriction in

court, and to stand trial only when physically fit. S
ae ECRET