Water torture

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Water torture encompasses a variety of techniques using water to inflict physical or psychological harm on a victim as a form of torture or execution.

Contents

Forced ingestion

In this form of water torture, water is forced down the throat and into the stomach. It was used as a legal torture and execution method by the courts in France in the 17th and 18th centuries. At the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century it was used against Filipinos by American Forces during the Philippine–American War and was employed against British Commonwealth, American and Chinese prisoners of war during World War II by the Japanese. [1] The Human Rights Watch organization reports that in the 2000s, security forces in Uganda sometimes forced a detainee to lie face up under an open water spigot. [2]

Water intoxication can result from drinking too much water. This has caused some fatalities over the years in fraternities in North America during initiation week. For example, a person was hazed to death by Chi Tau (local) of Chico State (California) in 2005 via the forcing of pushups and the drinking of water from a bottle. [3]

Waterboarding

Two United States soldiers and one South Vietnamese soldier waterboard a captured North Vietnamese prisoner of war near Da Nang. Published on the front cover of The Washington Post on 21 January 1968. Waterboarding a captured North Vietnamese soldier near Da Nang.jpeg
Two United States soldiers and one South Vietnamese soldier waterboard a captured North Vietnamese prisoner of war near Da Nang. Published on the front cover of The Washington Post on 21 January 1968.

Waterboarding is a form of torture in which water is poured over a cloth covering the face and breathing passages of an immobilized captive, causing the person to experience the sensation of drowning. In the most common method of waterboarding, the captive's face is covered with cloth or some other thin material and immobilized on their back at an incline of 10 to 20 degrees. [4] [5] Torturers pour water onto the face over the breathing passages, causing an almost immediate gag reflex and creating a drowning sensation for the captive. [6] [7] [8] Normally, water is poured intermittently to prevent death; however, if the water is poured uninterruptedly it will lead to death by asphyxia. Waterboarding can cause extreme pain, damage to lungs, brain damage from oxygen deprivation, other physical injuries including broken bones due to struggling against restraints, and lasting psychological damage. [9] Adverse physical effects can last for months, and psychological effects for years. [10] The term "water board torture" appeared in press reports as early as 1976. [11]

Waterboarding has been used in diverse places and at various points in history, including the Spanish and Flemish Inquisitions, by the United States military during the Philippine–American War, by Japanese and German officials during World War II, [12] by the French in the Algerian War, by the U.S. during the Vietnam War and the war on terror, [12] by the Pinochet regime in Chile, [13] by the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, by British security forces during the Troubles, [14] and by South African police during the Apartheid era. [15] Historically, waterboarding has been viewed as an especially severe form of torture. [16] The first known waterboarding has been attested to have taken place in 1516 in Graz, Austria.

Chinese water torture

"This murderer is Tortured with Ice-cold 1674. Palmqvist water torture.jpg
"This murderer is Tortured with Ice-cold 1674.
A victim of Chinese water torture at Sing Sing Prison in Ossining, New York SingSing torture 1860.png
A victim of Chinese water torture at Sing Sing Prison in Ossining, New York
A reproduction of a Chinese water torture apparatus at Berlin-Hohenschonhausen Memorial Chinesische Wasserfolter - Gedenkstatte Berlin-Hohenschonhausen.jpg
A reproduction of a Chinese water torture apparatus at Berlin-Hohenschönhausen Memorial
Chinese water torture or a "dripping machine" [17] is a mentally painful process in which cold water is slowly dripped onto the scalp, forehead or face for a prolonged period of time. [17] The process causes fear and mental deterioration on the subject. The pattern of the drops is often irregular, and the cold sensation is jarring, which causes anxiety as a person tries to anticipate the next drip. [18]

Dunking

Illustration from a Pearson Scott Foresman text book Ducking-Stool 1 (PSF).png
Illustration from a Pearson Scott Foresman text book
Punishing a woman accused of excessive arguing in the ducking stool Old woman draught at Ratcliffe Highway.png
Punishing a woman accused of excessive arguing in the ducking stool

Ducking stools or cucking stools were chairs formerly used for punishment of disorderly women, scolds, and dishonest tradesmen in medieval Europe [19] and elsewhere at later times. [20] The ducking-stool was a form of wymen pine, or "women's punishment", as referred to in Langland's Piers Plowman (1378). They were instruments of public humiliation and censure both primarily for the offense of scolding or backbiting and less often for sexual offences like bearing an illegitimate child or prostitution.

The stools were technical devices which formed part of the wider method of law enforcement through social humiliation. A common alternative was a court order to recite one's crimes or sins after Mass or in the market place on market day or informal action such as a Skimmington ride. They were usually of local manufacture with no standard design. Most were simply chairs into which the offender could be tied and exposed at her door or the site of her offence. Some were on wheels like a tumbrel that could be dragged around the parish. Some were put on poles so that they could be plunged into water, hence "ducking" stool. Stocks or pillories were similarly used for the punishment of men or women by humiliation.

The term "cucking-stool" is older, with written records dating back to the 13th and 14th centuries. Written records for the name "ducking stool" appear from 1597, and a statement in 1769 relates that "ducking-stool" is a corruption of the term "cucking-stool". [21] Whereas a cucking-stool could be and was used for humiliation with or without dunking the person in water, the name "ducking-stool" came to be used more specifically for those cucking-stools on an oscillating plank which were used to duck the person into water. [22]

Other forms

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scold's bridle</span> 16th-century punishment or torture device

A scold's bridle, sometimes called a witch's bridle, a gossip's bridle, a brank's bridle, or simply branks, was an instrument of punishment, as a form of public humiliation. It was an iron muzzle in an iron framework that enclosed the head. A bridle-bit, about 5 cm × 2.5 cm in size, was slid into the mouth and pressed down on top of the tongue, often with a spike on the tongue, as a compress. It functioned to silence the wearer from speaking entirely, to prevent the women from nagging. The scold's bridle was used on women. This prevented speaking and resulted in many unpleasant side effects for the wearer, including excessive salivation and fatigue in the mouth. For extra humiliation, a bell could also be attached to draw in crowds. The wearer was then led around town by a leash.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Public humiliation</span> Form of punishment whose main feature is dishonoring or disgracing a person

Public humiliation or public shaming is a form of punishment whose main feature is dishonoring or disgracing a person, usually an offender or a prisoner, especially in a public place. It was regularly used as a form of judicially sanctioned punishment in previous centuries, and is still practiced by different means in the modern era.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Common scold</span> Troublesome person in English law

In the common law of crime in England and Wales, a common scold was a type of public nuisance—a troublesome and angry person who broke the public peace by habitually chastising, arguing, and quarrelling with their neighbours. Most punished for scolding were women, though men could be found to be scolds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Waterboarding</span> Torture method simulating drowning

Waterboarding is a form of torture in which water is poured over a cloth covering the face and breathing passages of an immobilized captive, causing the person to experience the sensation of drowning. In the most common method of waterboarding, the captive's face is covered with cloth or some other thin material and immobilized on their back at an incline of 10 to 20 degrees. Torturers pour water onto the face over the breathing passages, causing an almost immediate gag reflex and creating a drowning sensation for the captive. Normally, water is poured intermittently to prevent death; however, if the water is poured uninterruptedly it will lead to death by asphyxia. Waterboarding can cause extreme pain, damage to lungs, brain damage from oxygen deprivation, other physical injuries including broken bones due to struggling against restraints, and lasting psychological damage. Adverse physical effects can last for months, and psychological effects for years. The term "water board torture" appeared in press reports as early as 1976.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ducking stool</span> Punishment chairs

Ducking stools or cucking stools were chairs formerly used for punishment of disorderly women, scolds, and dishonest tradesmen in medieval Europe and elsewhere at later times. The ducking-stool was a form of wymen pine, or "women's punishment", as referred to in Langland's Piers Plowman (1378). They were instruments of public humiliation and censure both primarily for the offense of scolding or backbiting and less often for sexual offences like bearing an illegitimate child or prostitution.

Tickle torture is the prolonged use of tickling to abuse, dominate, harass, humiliate, or interrogate an individual. While laughter is popularly thought of as a pleasure response, in tickle torture, the one being tickled may laugh whether or not they find the experience pleasant. In a tickling situation, laughter can indicate a panic reflex rather than a pleasure response, and the tickling may be a consensual activity or one that is forced, depending on the circumstances. In a consensual form, tickling may be part of a mutually fulfilling, physically intimate act between partners. However, tickle torture can cause real physical and mental distress in a victim, which is why it has been used as an interrogation method or to simply show dominance over another person.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prisoner abuse</span> Mistreatment of imprisoned people by authorities

Prisoner abuse is the mistreatment of persons while they are under arrest or incarcerated. Prisoner abuse can include physical abuse, psychological abuse, sexual abuse, torture, or other acts such as refusal of essential medication, and it can be perpetuated by either fellow inmates or prison faculty.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dunk tank</span> Attraction with the goal of dropping a target into a tank of water

A dunk tank, also known as a dunking booth or dunking machine, is a common feature at Canadian and American fairs, fundraisers, and celebrations. It involves at least two participants, one of whom sits on a collapsible bench above a human-sized water tank. The other participant's objective is to throw a ball at an accompanying target, which if successfully struck, causes the seat to collapse, "dunking" the person into the water. People often volunteer to be dunked while fully dressed. The person throwing the ball often has to pay per throw as donation to a charitable cause or company the dunked person supports or is employed for.

Extrajudicial prisoners of the United States, in the context of the early twenty-first century War on Terrorism, refers to foreign nationals the United States detains outside of the legal process required within United States legal jurisdiction. In this context, the U.S. government is maintaining torture centers, called black sites, operated by both known and secret intelligence agencies. Such black sites were later confirmed by reports from journalists, investigations, and from men who had been imprisoned and tortured there, and later released after being tortured until the CIA was comfortable they had done nothing wrong, and had nothing to hide.

Waterboard may refer to:

There are cases, both documented and alleged, that involve the usage of torture by members of the United States government, military, law enforcement agencies, intelligence agencies, health care services, and other public organizations both in and out of the country.

"Enhanced interrogation techniques" or "enhanced interrogation" was a program of systematic torture of detainees by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and various components of the U.S. Armed Forces at remote sites around the world—including Bagram, Guantanamo Bay, Abu Ghraib, and Bucharest—authorized by officials of the George W. Bush administration. Methods used included beating, binding in contorted stress positions, hooding, subjection to deafening noise, sleep disruption, sleep deprivation to the point of hallucination, deprivation of food, drink, and medical care for wounds, as well as waterboarding, walling, sexual humiliation, rape, sexual assault, subjection to extreme heat or extreme cold, and confinement in small coffin-like boxes. A Guantanamo inmate's drawings of some of these tortures, to which he himself was subjected, were published in The New York Times. Some of these techniques fall under the category known as "white room torture". Several detainees endured medically unnecessary "rectal rehydration", "rectal fluid resuscitation", and "rectal feeding". In addition to brutalizing detainees, there were threats to their families such as threats to harm children, and threats to sexually abuse or to cut the throat of detainees' mothers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Breast torture</span> BDSM sexual activity

Breast torture is a BDSM activity in which sexual stimulation is provided through the intentional application of physical pain or constriction to the breasts, areolae or nipples of a submissive. It is a popular activity among the kink community. The recipient of such activities may wish to receive them as a result of masochism or they may have a desire to please a dominant who is sadistic. Those involved may also be motivated by breast fetishism. Mild breast torture such as light impact play on the breasts is also occasionally used outside of the BDSM context to provide stimulation and pleasure during conventional sex. While breast and nipple torture is usually performed on women, most techniques or methods may also be used on men.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rasphuis</span>

The Rasphuis was a "tuchthuis" or prison in Amsterdam that was established in 1596 in the former Convent of the Poor Clares on the Heiligeweg. In 1815 it was closed, and in 1892 the building was demolished to make way for a swimming pool. On the site today is the Kalvertoren shopping centre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coney Island waterboarding thrill ride</span> 2008 artwork

The Coney Island waterboarding thrill ride was a work in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City conceived by conceptual artist Steve Powers in mid-2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Water cure (torture)</span> Form of torture

Water cure is a form of torture in which the victim is forced to drink large quantities of water in a short time, resulting in gastric distension, water intoxication, and possibly death.


Lutfi al-Arabi al-Gharisi is a citizen of Tunisia held in detention by the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human rights abuses in Chile under Augusto Pinochet</span> Crimes against humanity from 1973 to 1990

Human rights abuses in Chile under Augusto Pinochet were the crimes against humanity, persecution of opponents, political repression, and state terrorism committed by the Chilean Armed Forces, members of Carabineros de Chile and civil repressive agents members of a secret police, during the military dictatorship of Chile under General Augusto Pinochet from 1973 to 1990.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clattern Bridge</span> Bridge in Kingston upon Thames

The Clattern Bridge is a bridge over the Hogsmill River in Kingston upon Thames. It was built around 1175 and is thus one of the oldest intact bridges in England. It replaced an older Saxon bridge which was known as the Clatrung Bridge. Its various names, such as the Clateryngbrugge, are thought to derive from the clattering of horses' hooves as they crossed the bridge. The bridge still carries a full load of modern vehicle traffic.

References

  1. The Knights of Bushido: A Short History of Japanese War Crimes by Edward Frederick Langley Russell, Baron Russell of Liverpool (1958)
  2. Human Rights Watch, Human Rights News: Torture Worldwide
  3. Korry, Elaine (November 14, 2005). "A Fraternity Hazing Gone Wrong". NPR. Retrieved 2009-01-18.
  4. "Waterboarding". Quaker Initiative to End Torture. Archived from the original on 10 December 2014. Retrieved 26 June 2018.
  5. Mark Benjamin (9 March 2010). "Waterboarding for dummies". Salon . After immobilizing a prisoner by strapping him down, interrogators then tilted the gurney to a 10-15 degree downward angle, with the detainee's head at the lower end. They put a black cloth over his face and poured water, or saline, from a height of 6 to 18 inches, documents show. The slant of the gurney helped drive the water more directly into the prisoner's nose and mouth.
  6. Safire, William (2008). Safire's Political Dictionary. Oxford University Press. p. 795. ISBN   978-0-19-534334-2. Waterboarding. A form of torture in which the captive is made to believe he is suffocating to death under water
  7. Davis, Benjamin (8 October 2007). "Endgame on Torture: Time to Call the Bluff". Archived from the original on 20 December 2007. Retrieved 11 February 2010.
  8. Ross, Brian; Richard Esposito (18 November 2007). "CIA's Harsh Interrogation Techniques Described". ABC News . Retrieved 17 April 2009.
  9. "Open Letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales". Human Rights Watch. 5 April 2006. Retrieved 17 April 2009.
  10. Mayer, Jane (14 February 2008). "Outsourcing Torture". The New Yorker . Retrieved 17 April 2009.
  11. Safire, William (9 March 2008). "On Language: Waterboarding". The New York Times . Retrieved 17 April 2009.
  12. 1 2 Pincus, Walter (5 October 2006). "Waterboarding Historically Controversial". The Washington Post . p. A17. Retrieved 20 April 2009.
  13. Solis, Gary D. (15 February 2010). The Law of Armed Conflict: International Humanitarian Law in War. ISBN   9781139487115.
  14. McClements, Freya (26 June 2017). "Papers alleging British Army waterboarding in NI uncovered". Irish Times.
  15. Frank, John (18 December 2007). "History supports McCain's stance on waterboarding". PolitiFact .
  16. Cox 2018, p. 488.
  17. 1 2 Dripping Machine de Young, Mary (2015). Encyclopedia of Asylum Therapeutics, 1750-1950s. ISBN   9780786468973.
  18. Samuel, Eugenie. "Water torture". New Scientist. Archived from the original on 2021-07-23. Retrieved 2021-04-08.
  19. Underdown, David (1985). "The Taming of the Scold: Enforcement of Patriarchal Authority in Early Modern England". In Fletcher, A.; Stephenson, J. (eds.). Order and Disorder in Early Modern England. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 116–136. ISBN   0-521-25294-6. OCLC   17289313. Archived from the original on 2024-01-30. Retrieved 2018-05-31.
  20. Oxford English Dictionary includes dishonest tradesmen as well as disorderly women and scolds as people for whom the cucking-stool was used and cites its use in Vienna and that "The punishment of the ducking stool cannot be inflicted in Pennsylvania." which by implication suggests that it could be used in some other parts of the USA. http://oed.com/view/Entry/58195?redirectedFrom=ducking+stool Archived 2023-06-08 at the Wayback Machine accessed 27 Nov 2012.
  21. Oxford English Dictionary. "Cucking-stool" has references in 1215-70 and c.1308, including the use of the cucking-stool for immersion in water (c1308, 1534, 1633). http://oed.com/view/Entry/45498?redirectedFrom=cucking-stool#eid Archived 2018-10-27 at the Wayback Machine and ...ducking-stool accessed 27 Nov 2012.
  22. Oxford English Dictionary. http://oed.com/view/Entry/58195?redirectedFrom=ducking+stool Archived 2023-06-08 at the Wayback Machine accessed 27 Nov 2012.
  23. Pol, Lotte van der (1996). Het Amsterdams hoerdom: prostitutie in de zeventiende en achttiende eeuw. Wereldbibliotheek. p. 192. Het rasphuis had opvallend genoeg ook een hardnekkige mythe. In dit tuchthuis voor mannen zou een 'waterhuis' of verdrinkingscel zijn waarin gevangenen werden gezet die niet wilden werken.
  24. Mak, Geert (1994). Een kleine geschiedenis van Amsterdam. Atlas. p. 180. ISBN   978-90-254-0416-1. Jacob Bicker Raye en enkele anderen melden zelfs het - overigens onbevestigde - bestaan van een 'waterhuis'.
  25. Inside the World's Toughest Prisons "Germany: The Therapy Prison"
  26. "31 May 1879, Page 4 - The Newton Enterprise at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2018-05-10.

Sources