McCain Defends Vote On Waterboarding
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/02/20/politics/main3852533.shtml?source=search_story--
The House passed the US Torture Bill that retroactively pardons all members of the Bush administration for torture.
McCain argues that torture works. Sure torture works. It worked with the Medieval Inquisition during the 12th and 13th century. And it worked again with the Spanish Inquisition during the 16th century, when, to gain a confession of heresy, and because it believed they were a threat, the Catholic Church waterboarded Jews and Protestants.
Torture surfaced its ugly head again with the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 when the guilty were burned alive.
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To gain a confession of heresy and because it believed they were a threat, the Catholic Church waterboarded Jews and Protestants in the 16th century.
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The Spanish Inquisition - (16th century)
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In order to interrogate the accused, the Inquisition made use of torture, but not in a systematic way. It was applied mainly against those suspected of Judaism and Protestantism, beginning in the 16th century.
"In order to interrogate the accused, the Inquisition made use of torture, but not in a systematic way. It was applied mainly against those suspected of Judaism and Protestantism, beginning in the 16th century. For example, Lea estimates that between 1575 and 1610 the court of Toledo tortured approximately a third of those processed for heresy.<31> In other periods, the proportions varied remarkably. Torture was always a means to obtain the confession of the accused, not a punishment itself. It was applied without distinction of sex or age, including children and the aged."
Introducing a cloth into the mouth of the victim, and forcing them to ingest water spilled from a jar so that they had impression of drowning.
"The methods of torture most used by the Inquisition were garrucha, toca and the potro. The application of the garrucha, also known as the strappado, consisted of suspending the criminal from the ceiling by a pulley with weights tied to the ankles, with a series of lifts and drops, during which arms and legs suffered violent pulls and were sometimes dislocated.<32> The toca, also called tortura del agua, consisted of introducing a cloth into the mouth of the victim, and forcing them to ingest water spilled from a jar so that they had impression of drowning (see: waterboarding).<33> The potro, the rack, was the instrument of torture used most frequently.<34>"
"The assertion that "confessionem esse veram, non factam vi tormentorum" (the confession was true and free) sometimes follows a description of how, presently after torture ended, the subject freely confessed to the offenses.<35>"
- Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Inquisition#The_trial------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Medieval Inquisition - (12th and 13th century)
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Torture methods that resulted in bloodshed, mutilation or death were forbidden.
"Torture was used after 1252. On May 15, Pope Innocent IV issued a papal bull entitled Ad exstirpanda, which authorized the use of torture by inquisitors. Torture methods that resulted in bloodshed, mutilation or death were forbidden. Also, torture could be performed only once. However, it was common practice to consider a second torture session to be a "continuation" of the first. People were also tortured by getting hung by their wrists, and have weights hung by their ankles."
- Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medieval_Inquisition#Torture------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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