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The principles of torture
Medieval torture essay outline
Advantages Of Torture
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Types of torture and purpose:
Pear of Anguish:
The device was inserted into one of the prisoner's orifices — the vagina for women, the anus for homosexuals, and the mouth for liars and blasphemers. The device featured four metal leaves that slowly separated from each other as the torturer turned the screw at the top. It rarely caused death, but was often followed by other torture methods.
Knee Splitter:
Popular during the Inquisition, this device consisted of two spiked wood blocks which were placed in front of and behind the knee. Spikes varied from 3 to 20, and amount used depended on the status of prisoner and nature of the crime.
The Brazen Bull:
Similar to being boiled alive, this bronze bull would roast victim’s to death, as the fire
underneath it heated the bronze to a scorching temperature. A complex system of tubes converted the shrieks of victims into the sound of an infuriated bull. Coffin Torture: This truly sadistic torture method involved forcing the victim into a metal cage that was roughly the size of a human body and hanging them from gallows or trees until birds and crows fed on their remains. To heighten suffering, any overweight victims were shoved into smaller cages. Rat Torture: One of the most sadistic of all torture techniques involved having a cage with one open side strapped against the victim’s body. It would then be filled with large rodents and a heating element which would be placed on the other side of the cage. The rodents’ natural instinct led them to flee the intense heat. In order to escape they would burrow through the victim’s body with fatal results. Judas Chair Also known as the Judas Chair, it was a terrible, intimidating torture device that was added to dungeons in the Middle Ages. Used until the 1800′s in Europe, this chair was layered with 500 to 1,500 spikes on every surface with tight straps to restrain its victim. Made of iron, it can also contain spaces for heating elements beneath the seat. It was often used to scare people into giving confessions as they watched others being tortured on the device.
The constables brought in a wooden cross, which was a torture device and "made Hsu kneel down with his back to this cross and lashed his throat. His wrists were put through two holes at the ends of the crossbar, and his hands tied securely to the bar, so that they could not slip through. They passed a thick, round pole between the back of his thighs and his calves, and finally laid a long, heavy wooden beam across his lap." (194) After the device was set up "Judge Dee ordered them to
The basket was used to catch the falling heads. In the early revolution Richard Clark said that originally a wicker basket lined with an oil cloth had been used to catch the head. Later on a metal bucket was used to prevent the blood from flowing through the streets. Since they guillotined so any people the bucket became a necessity to have. Along with this it helped to prevent the smell of death in the streets.
...cs were forced to drink tons of water or other fluids or were forced to put burning coals on their body. Some heretics were tortured on a rack. The rack dislocated them or their arms and legs could be torn off. (Freeman). There were many other ways that they tortured heretics.
With electrocution the prisoner had to be prepped, his head and one calf would be shaved, making for better contact of the leads (Powell, 2014). The prisoner is strapped into the electric chair at the wrists, waist...
...alling her at the same time a d—d b—h. After crossing her hands, he tied them with a strong rope, and led her to a stool under a large hook in the joist, put in for the purpose. He made her get upon the stool, and tied her hands to the hook (pg. ).” George Womble, a former slave, expresses how his slaveholder, Mr. Ridley, “Sometimes he whipped us, especially us boys, just to give himself a little fun. He would tie us in such a way as to cause our bodies to form an angle and then he proceeded to use the whip (1936-1938).” According to Womble, “At other times he would throw us in a large tank that held about two-thousand gallons of water. He then stood back and laughed while we struggled to keep from drowning.” The slaveholders would treat their slaves in such a cruel way and they would create many punishments for them, even if they did not do anything to deserve it.
They drove a metal pin through the infants ankles and gave it to a shepherd,
Other more cruel punishment was carried out--not only in the North, but throughout the other colonies as well. The idea was that the criminal should be marked and humiliated. Whipping posts were used, flesh was branded with hot irons, and ears and hands were cut off.
Janet Gardner, an Associate Professor of English at the University of Massachusetts, and the author of the textbook “Reading About Literature”, claims that “…the more prominent an image in a story, the more likely it is meant to be read symbolically” (74). I recognize the apparatus as a ¬symbol of control. “Whatever commandment the prisoner has disobeyed is written upon his body by the Harrow…” (169) This statement itself shows that the apparatus is responsible for disciplining the natives. Moreover the “commandment” may also epitomize that the apparatus is a set of laws and beliefs. However, this formulates a hypothetical question. Who gets to be the prisoner? Therefore, it may also be inferred that the apparatus is responsible for the determination of power between the characters. This claim is visibly found on the last scene when the soldier and the condemned man “came rushing after” (192) the explorer when he was about to leave. They were desperate of leaving the island since they know that one of them shall take over the superior responsibility of the former officer to take charge of the apparatus and the other one must accept the inferior role of being
The knot when made with a large enough diameter rope creates a noose. The wraps create a large cylinder mass right above the loop. When placed around the condemned’s neck the noose is usually putt behind the left ear. This knot was designed so that when the person being hanged fell, the knot would deliver a striking blow to the back of the head causing it to snap the fourth and fifth vertebrae in the spinal cord.
This machine used an intravenous drip which was hooked up to the patient. The IV would start dripping a solution of saline. When the patient was ready they pushed a button and this solution would stop dripping. At this time the machine would release a drug called thiopental, better known as sodium pentothal, a general anesthesia for sixty seconds. After this the patient would be in a coma. A timer would stop the first drug and the release the next one called potassium chloride. This drug will cause a heart attack and the patient will die in their sleep. (Gibbs, McBride-Mellinger; PBS.org.
“her needle-work was seen on the ruff of the Governor; military men wore it on their scarfs, and the minister on his band; it decked the baby’s little cap; it was shut up, to be mildewed and moulder away, in the coffins of the dead” (57).
The issue of torture is nothing new. It was done in the past and it’s done now in the 21st century. Without saying one side is right and the other side is wrong, let us discuss the part that we agree on and find common ground. We as Americans want to protect Americans from harms. So how do we prevent that from happening without torturing? It is impossible to get answer without some sort of questioning and intimidation techniques, since we know captured prisoners during war are not easily going to give up information. We know the enemy we face doesn’t follow the Geneva Convention or any law that pertains to war, so does that mean we shouldn’t also follow the Geneva Convention also, which prohibits torture? Of course not, because we want to be example for the world. Republicans argue that we have to do whatever is necessary to keep Americans safe, and Democrats argue it goes against our values and makes us look bad. We as Americans, as leader of the free world we
While one person lays with their wrists circumscribed to the worn leather of the gurney, another person holds two skin-piercing needles. The individual holding the needles is an inexperienced technician who obtains permission from the United States federal government to murder people. One needle is held as a precaution in case the pain is too visible to the viewers. Another dagger filled with a lethal dosage of chemicals is inserted into the vein that causes the person to stop breathing. When the cry of the heart rate monitor becomes monotone, the corrupt procedure is complete. Lying in the chair is a corpse when moments ago it was an individual who made one fatal mistake that will never get the chance to redeem (Ecenbarger). Although some people believe that the death
Around the world and around the clock, human rights violations seem to never cease. In particular, torture violations are still rampant all over the world. One regime, the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, establishes a strong elaboration of norms against torture. Despite its efforts, many countries still outright reject its policies against torture while other countries openly accept them, but surreptitiously still violate them. The US, Israel, and Saudi Arabia all have failed to end torture despite accepting the provisions of the Convention.
Instead, specific implements, which were regarded as harboring their own powers, were utilized as ritual perforators of human flesh. Stingray spines, obsidian lancets, and carved bone awls served as tools to sever the penis, cheeks, ears, and tongue. Because their spines were naturally angled in one direction, stingray spines forced a ritual participant to complete the act of piercing; once the stingray spine had already begun to sever the flesh, a reversal in direction would have resulted in more severe and drastic cuts than if the stingray spine were pressed all the way through the flesh in the same direction. Nevertheless, human sacrifices represented utmost importance in Maya