Strappado

The strappado, also known as corda,[1] is a form of torture wherein the victim's hands are tied behind their back and suspended by a rope attached to the wrists, typically resulting in dislocated shoulders.[2][3] Weights may be added to the body to intensify the effect and increase the pain.[4] This kind of torture would generally not last more than an hour without rest,[5] as it would likely result in death.

This article is about the torture technique. For the BDSM play, see Strappado bondage. For other uses, see Strappado (disambiguation).
"Estrapade" redirects here. For the racehorse, see Estrapade (horse).
The Strappado, used as public punishment, detail of plate 10 of Les Grandes Misères de la guerre by Jacques Callot, 1633

Other names for strappado include "reverse hanging" and "Palestinian hanging" (despite there being no reported evidence by human rights monitors of its use by Palestinians, or against Palestinians)[6][7][8] and il tormento della corda.[9] Historically, it was used by the medieval Inquisition and many governments,[10] such as the civil law court (1543–1798) of the Order of St. John at the Castellania in Valletta, Malta.[11][12]

The proper strappado causes permanent visible damage. Pain and resistance are different from person to person, generally due to the weight of the person or the weight attached.[13] It is not, as Samuel Johnson erroneously entered in his dictionary, a "chastisement by blows".[14]

Variants

There are three variants of this torture. In the first, victims have their arms tied behind their backs; a large rope is then tied to the wrists and passed over a pulley, beam, or a hook on the roof. The torturer pulls on this rope until the victim is hanging from the arms. Since the hands are tied behind the victim's back, this will cause a very intense pain and possible dislocation of the arms.[2][3][15] The full weight of the subject's body is then supported by the extended and internally rotated shoulder sockets. While the technique shows no external injuries, it can cause long-term nerve, ligament, or tendon damage. The technique typically causes brachial plexus injury, leading to paralysis or loss of sensation in the arms.

The second variation, known as squassation, is similar to the first, but a series of drops are added, meaning that the victim is allowed to drop until his or her fall is suddenly checked by the rope.[4] In addition to the damage caused by the suspension, the painful jerk would cause major stress to the extended and vulnerable arms, leading to broken shoulders. It is believed that Niccolò Machiavelli, during his 1513 imprisonment after allegedly conspiring against the Medici family in Florence, was subjected to this form of strappado.

In the third variant, the victim's hands are tied to the front. The victim is also hung from the hands, but the ankles are tied and a heavy weight is attached to them. This will cause pain and possible damage not only to the arms, but also to the legs and hips.

History

According to William Godwin, Girolamo Savonarola was tortured by strappado multiple times before being put to death in a trial by ordeal (fire); Savonarola, however, apparently renounced his confessions after being tortured, which eventually led to his sentence of burning at the stake.[16] This device was thought to be used during the Salem Witch Trials of Salem, Massachusetts in 1692 to torture accused witches.

Modern instances
A sculpture depicting strappado

In the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, prisoners were punished by having their hands tied behind their back, and then being suspended on a pole with their feet just above the ground for half an hour. This was also systematically used in Dachau Concentration Camp for infringement of camp rules. Originally the punishment used tree branches, but it was moved into a shower room on special poles so that victims could not relieve the pain as they could by using the tree. Holocaust survivor Jean Améry writes of his own experiences of strappado when being tortured at the Nazi concentration camp of Fort Breendonk in occupied Belgium. Améry's analytical descriptions of the torture were included in a number of works by the writer W. G. Sebald (notably the novel Austerlitz).

The "ropes" was one of several torture methods employed at the Hỏa Lò Prison, popularly known as the Hanoi Hilton.[17] The site was used by the North Vietnamese Army to house, torture and interrogate captured servicemen, mostly American airmen shot down during bombing raids (including USAF officer Joseph Kittinger, and US Navy pilot [and later US Senator] John McCain).[18] The aim of the torture was usually not acquiring military information; rather, it was to break the will of the prisoners, both individually and as a group, and to get written or recorded statements from the prisoners who criticized U.S. conduct of the war and praised how the North Vietnamese treated them.[19]

According to a 1997 Human Rights Watch report, this technique was "widely employed" by the security forces of Turkey, where it is "usually used together with high-pressure water, electric shock, beating, or sexual molestation such as squeezing the testicles or breast or placing a nightstick against or in the vagina or anus".[20] In 1996, the European Court of Human Rights found Turkey guilty of torture for its use of reverse hanging.[21] Turkey has been admonished by Amnesty International and other international human rights groups concerning the use of the technique.

In 2003, one of the Bulgarian nurses interrogated during the HIV trial in Libya, Snezhana Dimitrova, stated that she had been tortured in this way.

They tied my hands behind my back. Then they hung me from a door. It feels like they are stretching you from all sides. My torso was twisted and my shoulders were dislocated from their joints from time to time. The pain cannot be described. The translator was shouting, "Confess or you will die here".[22]

In November 2003, Manadel al-Jamadi, a suspected terrorist, was tortured to death at Abu Ghraib Prison during a Central Intelligence Agency interrogation, by members of the US Military. It was revealed in February 2005 that he had died after 30 minutes of interrogation during which he was suspended by the wrists, bound behind his back.[6]

In 2017, video footage was released of Iraqi Army members inflicting strappado torture following successes in the Battle of Mosul.[23]

References
  1. Smollett, Tobias (1900). The works of Tobias Smollett, Volume 11. Constable. p. 216. OCLC 646851669. Retrieved August 7, 2016.
  2. Cassar, Paul (1988). The Castellania Palace: From Law Courts to Guardian of the Nation's Health. Malta: Department of Information. pp. 31–32.
  3. Boffa, Christa (8 July 2016). "Palazz Castellania". Illum (in Maltese). Archived from the original on 30 July 2016.
  4. Borg-Muscat, David (2001). "Prison life in Malta in the 18th century – Valletta's Gran Prigione" (PDF). Storja: 48–49. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 April 2016.
  5. Eton, William (1802). Authentic materials for a history of the principality of Malta. Oxford University. p. 170 (70).
  6. "'Palestinian hanging' torture revealed - After Saddam". SMH. 18 February 2005. Retrieved 20 July 2017. The prisoner died in a position known as "Palestinian hanging," documents reviewed by The AP showed.
  7. Goldhaber, Michael (2007). A People's History of the European Court of Human Rights. Rutgers University Press. p. 109. ISBN 978-0-8135-3983-6. Mysteriously, this method is commonly called "Palestinian hanging" today, although torture monitors say it is used by neither Israel nor the Palestinian Authority.
  8. Rejali, Darius (2007). Torture and Democracy. Princeton University Press. pp. 355. ISBN 978-0-691-11422-4.
  9. The Inquisitor's Palace in Birgu (Vittoriosa).
  10. Inquisition from Its Establishment to the Great Schism: An Introductory Study Authors A. L. Maycock, Ronald Knox Publisher Kessinger Publishing, 2003 ISBN 0-7661-7290-2,ISBN 978-0-7661-7290-6 p. 162
  11. "The Castellania". Malta Environment and Planning Authority. Archived from the original on 12 March 2016.
  12. Cassar-Pullicino, Joseph (1992). Studies in Maltese Folklore. Malta University Press. p. 50.
  13. Torture and Democracy. p. 295-296.
  14. Samuel Johnson's Dictionary. Jack Lynch (Ed.) Levenger Press. Delray Beach, FL. 2004. Pages 10 and 482.
  15. Attard, Christian (2013). "The sad end of Maestro Gianni - A Neapolitan Buonavoglia and Sculptor". Treasures of Malta. Valletta: Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti. XIX (56): 49. ISSN 1028-3013. OCLC 499647242.
  16. Heraud, John Abraham (1843). The life and times of Girolamo Savonarola: illustrating the progress of the Reformation in Italy, during the fifteenth century. Whittaker. p. 371.
  17. "The Prisoner", New York Times.
  18. Karnow, Stanley (1983). Vietnam: A History. The Viking Press. ISBN 0-670-74604-5. p. 655.
  19. Hubbell, P.O.W., pp. 288–306.
  20. TURKEY: TORTURE AND MISTREATMENT IN PRE-TRIAL DETENTION BY ANTI-TERROR POLICE - Techniques of Abuse
  21. Aksoy v. Turkey, no. 100/1995/606/694, December 18, 1996, from the Human & Constitutional Rights Resource Page
    European Commission on Human Rights, Aksoy v. Turkey, Publication 1996-VI, no. 26, December 18, 1996, from the Netherlands Institute of Human Rights Archived 2004-01-13 at the Library of Congress Web Archives
  22. Rosenthal, Elisabeth (14 October 2005). "Time ebbing for 6 foreigners in Libya AIDS case". International Herald Tribune. Archived from the original on 15 October 2005.
  23. "Iraqi troops torture and execute civilians in secret videos". ABC News. Retrieved 2017-07-20.
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