FACTS:
Petitioners were arrested following a shootout with government soldiers after the latter raided their compound in search of loose firearms, ammunition and other explosives. They filed an action to challenge the validity of their fingerprinting, photographing and paraffin-testing.
ISSUE(S):
Whether or not petitioners’ right against self-incrimination was violated.
HELD:
NO. The prohibition against self-incrimination applies to testimonial compulsion only. The prohibition of compelling a man in a criminal court to be a witness against himself is a prohibition of the use of physical or moral compulsion to extort communications from him, not an exclusion of his body as evidence when it may be material.
