Matthew Santoro presents a list of the top 10 most disturbing modern torture methods. These include:
1. The Tiger Bench: a Chinese torture method that involves securing a prisoner to a bench and adding bricks under their feet until their bones break.
2. The Tucker Telephone: an electric shock device used in the US that sends shocks to a prisoner's genitals.
3. The Cold Cell: a CIA torture method that involves placing a prisoner in a cold room for hours or days.
4. The Syrian Torture Method: a method used by the Syrian government that involves placing a prisoner in a small box and subjecting them to electric shocks and sensory deprivation.
5. White Torture: an Iranian method that involves sensory deprivation and isolation in a white-painted cell.
6. Waterboarding: a method that involves pouring water over a prisoner's face to create a drowning sensation.
7. Cat O' Nine Tails: a whip used in some countries as a judicial punishment.
8. The Picana: an Argentine device that delivers electric shocks to a prisoner's body.
9. The Strappado: a method that involves hanging a prisoner from their wrists, causing dislocated shoulders and extreme pain.
10. The Flying Carpet: a Syrian method that involves strapping a prisoner to a wooden board and subjecting them to beatings, cigarette burns, and electric shocks.
Santoro notes that these methods are still used in various parts of the world, often in secret, and that they are a stark reminder of the darker aspects of human nature.
Here are the key facts extracted from the text:
1. The tiger bench is a torture method used in China, primarily on practitioners of Falun Gong.
2. The tiger bench involves placing a prisoner on a long bench with their back, feet, and legs secured, and adding bricks under their feet until the straps or their feet break.
3. In 2002, a woman was tortured using the tiger bench and suffered visible bone damage in her ankles.
4. The Tucker Telephone is a torture device that uses electric shocks to inflict pain on prisoners.
5. The device was used in the 1960s at the Tucker State prison farm in Arkansas and was banned in the 1970s.
6. The CIA is limited to six techniques of humane interrogation, but one of these techniques, known as the cold cell, is essentially a method of torture.
7. The cold cell involves placing a prisoner in front of an air conditioner for hours, days, or even years at a time.
8. The practice of using the cold cell began in 1961 at the Parchman, Mississippi State Penitentiary.
9. Vhuen Van Tai, a high-ranking Viet Cong officer, was subjected to the cold cell for four straight years.
10. The Syrian torture method involves placing a prisoner in a small box with their hands and feet bound, and forcing them to lie in uncomfortable positions for long periods.
11. The box is often tilted on its side and elevated, making it difficult for the prisoner to reach food or water.
12. Prisoners subjected to the Syrian torture method are also electrocuted several times a day to keep them awake.
13. White torture is a form of emotional and psychological torture that relies on sensory deprivation and isolation.
14. White torture was first used by the Iranian government on Amir Abbas Fakhravar in the 1980s.
15. The cat o' nine tails is a type of whip used as a judicial punishment in some countries, including Antigua and Barbuda, and Barbados.
16. The cat o' nine tails can cause severe damage and even death if used extensively.
17. The strappado is a form of torture where a subject's hands are tied behind their back before they are hung from their wrists.
18. The strappado is incredibly painful and has been used throughout the 20th and 21st centuries.
19. The north Vietnamese army, the Khmer Rouge, Turkey, and America have all used the strappado as a torture technique.
20. The picana is a wand or prod that gives a high-voltage, low-electric shock to the victim.
21. The picana was first introduced in Argentina in the 1930s and was used extensively during the 1970s.
22. The flying carpet is a torture method that involves strapping a victim face up on a piece of wood shaped like the human body.
23. The victim is then subjected to beatings, cigarette burns, and electrical shocks, causing unimaginable pain and discomfort.
24. Over 11,000 detainees were killed during the Syrian civil war using techniques like the flying carpet.
25. The German chair and the tire are other torture methods used by ISIS members.