No need for a pachyderm
Torture – any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him information, exacting revenge, deterring others from doing certain things and in some cases just for the hell of it. Throughout history civilisations have come up with more and more elaborate and grotesque ways of torturing people, often implemented by the people in power as a form of policing. Old classics come to mind like the thumb screw and the rack, but some techniques long since disregarded offer a glimpse at how abhorrent law enforcement would have been. Even in today’s societies certain inhumane techniques, such as sleep deprivation and solitary confinement, are used on people who are, by law, innocent until proven guilty. Although of course the law stipulates that when techniques like this are used to ensure justice they are not forms of torture.
Some of our favourites ‘golden oldies’ are:
Death of a thousand cuts
Slow slicing – Slow slicing also translated as the slow process, the lingering death, or death by a thousand cuts, was a form of execution used in China from roughly AD 900 until its abolition in 1905. In this form of execution, the condemned person was killed by using a knife to methodically remove portions of the body over an extended period of time. A particularly painful method of torture the victims would be kept alive for as long as possible whilst still having body parts removed.
Peine forte et dure – Death by crushing or pressing is a method of execution that has a history during which the techniques used varied greatly from place to place. This form of execution is no longer sanctioned by any governing body. A common method of death throughout South and South-East Asia for over 4,000 years was crushing by elephants. European countries will often swap the use of a pachyderm for a large rock or tree.
Dumbo's Revenge
Rat Torture – Rats may be used to torture a victim by encouraging them to attack and eat him alive. This is supposed to be a traditional form of Chinese punishment. The “Rats’ Dungeon” was a feature of the Tower of London alleged by Roman Catholic writers from the Elizabethan era. A cell below high-water mark and totally dark would draw in rats from the River Thames as the tide flowed in. The prisoner would in some instances have flesh torn from the arms and legs to encourage the rats to eat. Another method uses a pottery bowl filled with rats placed open side down on the naked body of a prisoner. When hot charcoal is piled on the bowl, the rats attempt to escape by gnawing into the very bowels of the victim.
Foot Roasting – Pretty self explanatory really, the prisoner is immobilised on his back and his bare feet are imprisoned in a stocks of wood or iron. The soles of his feet are smeared with lard — occasionally butter, and more recently even margarine and olive oil spread — and slowly barbecued over red-hot coals. A bellows is used to control the intensity of the heat, while a screen is interposed between the feet and the coals as questions are put; if the questions are not answered satisfactorily, the screen is withdrawn and the naked soles were exposed to the flames for an ever increasing period of time.
Rack 'em up
Water Torture – What is called the “Chinese water torture” was a torture described by Hippolytus de Marsiliis in the 16th century that was supposed to drive its victim insane with the stress of water dripping on a part of the forehead for a very long time. It may also be characterized by the inconsistent pattern of water drips. Supposedly, the desire for the human brain to make a pattern of the timing between the drops will also eventually cause insanity to set in.
Pharmalogical torture – Pharmalogical torture uses psychotropic and/or other chemicals to induce pain and cause compliance with a torturer’s goals. Another form is when the victim is forcibly injected with addictive drugs to have them become dependent, and then they’re denied the drug and forced to go through withdrawal unless they provide what the torturer wants.
