Torture based on the definition is the act of causing severe physical pain as a form of punishment or as a way to force someone to do or say something or it is something that causes mental or physical suffering. In the times when torture was legal many people enjoyed watching the person being tortured as a form of entertainment. Public punishment was probably originally conceived to prevent people from committing crimes, but its continuing popularity over the centuries seems to have been due more to its value as entertainment than to its value as a way to prevent people from committing crimes. However, very few people spoke against it until the Enlightenment due to the fact that it was such a popular form of entertainment that it would have
Some of the techniques were more brutal than others but still all in the same. The tub was a method of torture in which the convicted person would be placed inside a wooden tub completely submerged besides their head which would stick out of the water. Their head was then painted with milk and honey in order for flies to be lured in to feed on their face. The victim was constantly feed causing them to sit in their own feces. They would soon begin to decay within the tub from the maggots and worms which began to devour their bodies as the victim decayed alive.
Above is a photo of a torture tub. One of the easiest example of torture was rope torture. A rope was the easiest to use of all the torture devices since it is easy to find and can easily be fashioned to inflict a number of terrible retributions. It was commonly used to tie the victim to a tree leaving the victim exposed with no way of defending himself from animals or other humans. It was also used to hang victims at the gallows for entertainment purposes while ultimately inflicting death. It was often fashioned to restrain the victim’s limbs while attaching the other end to horses who would them be made to run, consequently severing the limbs.
Above is a photo of the rope
The human brain lives in an unbalanced state of very strong stimuli from some parts of the brain overcome the still weak processes of other parts of the brain that are meant to “rationalize” them before it is fully matured. When children are taught not to torture objects, animals, or other children, they are ultimately being taught that torture is bad because it might backfire onto them. In today 's time we “brainwash” children, teenagers and adults to believe that torture is bad, but the truth is that one never discovered the causes of torture to start with. This means that the practice simply went dormant and could be revived at any
...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.
While being forced to live in Auschwitz they endured many cruel and harsh punishments. The main form of punishment was the gas chambers. These chambers were cells that were made underground and were able to be sealed. Zyklon-B was the poison used to gas and kill the Jewish people. “It takes about 10 minutes to kill 2,000 to 3,000 people in the gas chamber.” (Saldinger p.57) After gassing they would then be extracted from the chamber and taken to the crematorium where the bodies would be disposed of. Sometimes it wasn’t even the guards who would dispose of the bodies, most of the time it was the prisoners who were forced to extract their own people from the chambers. This was just one of the many forms of punishment; there were many more and some were just as bad.
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.
Torture was used quite often to get essential information if the criminal was not willing to confess (Brackett). This is one technique that is rarely used or no longer used in today’s society. Another technique that was used in the renaissance era was that if one family member was guilty of a crime, the family of that criminal would get punished along with the criminal (Muir). There was also an option for the plaintiff of a court case to pay court costs and reverse the charge on to the claimant if the claimant could not prove his or her case (Brackett). These procedures are obviously not used anymore in today’s society.
Torture (Latin torquere, “to twist”), in law, infliction of severe bodily pain either as punishment, or to compel a person to confess to a crime, or to give evidence in a judicial proceeding. Among primitive peoples, torture has been used as a means of ordeal and to punish captured enemies. Examination by torture, often called the “question,” has been used in many countries as a judicial method. It involves using instruments to extort evidence from unwilling witnesses.
Torture is the intentional infliction of extreme physical suffering on some non-consenting, defenseless person. Torture in any form is used to punish, coerce, or afford sadistic pleasure.
The motivation to torture is guided by gut feelings and “what if” stories. Using torture to gain information involves a tremendous amount of assumptions. The Torturer is assuming that there is an actual danger, they are assuming that they have the correct person as well as assuming their level of their involvement and guilt in the situation, and lastly by using torture they are assuming that there is no alternative way to extract the information.
The person is carved into pieces while alive. It was often combined with hanging and used for extremely serious crimes such as high treason, where mere hanging alone was not enough.
Tubman was first hired by a master to take care of his and his wife’s small baby. She rarely got sleep because she was required to stay awake and make sure the baby did not cry. If the baby did cry and woke the mother or father, Tubman would be whipped (americaslibrary.gov 2014). At one time, Tubman was asked to assist in the whipping of a man who went to the store with no permission. She refused to assist, and the slave being whipped got up in an attempt to escape. So the master picked up a heavy iron weight to throw at...
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain or suffering, mental or physical, on an individual to obtain information, to intimidate or for punishment. Torture is expressed in many ways, for example, rape, hard labour, electric shock, severe beatings, etc, and for this reason it is considered as cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment. Therefore, it is a violation of human rights and is strictly prohibited by international law. Michael Davis and many other individuals have stated that torture is worse than murder. He claims, “Both torture and premature death are very great evils but, if one is a greater evil than the other, it is certainly torture”. With that being said, there are three major reasons to discuss, in which, torture is not morally acceptable. However, in many cases it is considered very beneficial, but the disadvantages outweighs the benefits. Firstly, bullying is a form of torture but to a lesser extent, in which it results in an individual suffering from low self-esteem, suicidal thoughts, self-harm, etc. In addition, torture is mainly used as a means to obtain information, however, it is an ineffective interrogation tool in which, the data given could be falsified. Lastly, torture is sometimes utilized to shatter the autonomy of individual, that is, the right to their freedom and independence, forcing the victim to succumb to the torturer’s way of thinking.
Torture, punishment or fun practices, do not do justice in describing medieval torture devices. Medieval practitioners would bring together the accumulative knowledge of the Greeks, Romans and Mesopotamians to create a new art, the art of fear. Regardless of how one looks at this practice it is perfectly clear that medieval tortures were intended to be cruel.
Until there is a credible way to determine whether or not torture is in fact effective, I pass judgment that the practice should be discontinued. The question as to if the torture policy is a human rights violation or if it holds crucial necessity, is not answered in the essay. Applebaum explores the reality that torture possesses negative implications on the inflictor. After presented with the compelling stance and evidence, Applebaum raises the interesting question as to why so much of society believes that torture is successful. I agree that the torture policy is wrong, a point emphasized by Applebaum, contrary to the popular attitude surrounding the topic.
The notion that fear will make a human leak information is not a novel idea. Torture has widely been used throughout the world by many groups of people. After World War II, The Geneva Convention prohibited any nation from partaking in torture. The emergence of terrorist activity on American soil brought up the question whether torture should be advocated or prohibited from a moral standpoint. The US changed the definition of torture in order to forcibly attain potentially important information from captives. Even though the new clause suggested that many of the methods the US used were now legal, other countries still had an issue in terms of honoring the Geneva Convention and basic human rights. Advocates for torture promise that countless innocent lives can be saved from the information obtained from a single torture victim. Opponents to the advocates suggest that torture often results in misleading information. Morally, torture is not justified as it degrades humans and often leaves victims scarred for life and possibly dead.
In conclusion, the convention against torture, has brought many people together, and has informed many people of the horrible tortures which go on everywhere from the US to Syria. It has tried to set fine lines which prohibit torture under all circumstances. However, since there is no governing body over countries, it remains difficult to enforce the human right standards sought after by the Convention against torture. The convention has therefore done a good job at identifying the torturers. This has in turn lessened the amount of those persecuted. It will remain a gradual process to eliminate torture from all countries, but nevertheless a necessity, in the quest for universal human rights. Torture will continue until all countries decide for themselves, and not from a third party convention that freedom from torture is a human right everyone deserves.
Torture is the process of inflicting pain upon other people in order to force them to say something against their own will. The word “torture” comes from the Latin word “torquere,” which means to twist. Torture can not only be psychologically but mentally painful. Before the Enlightenment, it was perfectly legal to torture individuals but nowadays, it is illegal to torture anyone under any circumstances. In this essay, I will demonstrate why torture should never acceptable, not matter the condition.