The practice of inflicting mental, physical, and emotional pain on somebody to obtain information, to make an example for people, or just for satisfying some sadistic pleasure.
Torture has been around for thousands of years and everything horrible that you can think of has been used as a means of torture.
...Nonetheless, torture is infamous for being
counterproductive, since people who are under torture will say anything; if you are
tortured mercilessly enough, you will thus tell your torturers whatever that they want to hear in order to escape the torture, even if your information is completely false.
Sadly, those who are tortured are usually the wrong people; their only crime was that they were in the wrong place at the wrong time or were mistaken for the suspect.
I told them to truth, but they tortured me yet...
They shoved pins under my fingernails...
Tied
me naked to a tree and smeared me with honey and left me to the mercy of
the insects and animals...
Nearly crushed my thumbs with thumbscrews...
Tried to pull my fingernails out with tongs...
Pressed my skull with a head clamp...
Dislocated my joints
on the rack...
Threatened me with hot pokers...
Put spiders on my naked body while on the rack...
Dragged my mother in and made me rape her...
Made me drink diarrhea and piss from the toilet...
Force-fed me water...
Made me walk on
hot coals and broken glass...
Fanned chili powder, crushed jalepeños, and habenero flakes into my cell...
Waterboarded me...
Threatened to tear my tongue out...
Rubbed me with rasps...
Whipped me with spiked whips...
Starved me...
Raped me...
Crashed
cymbals and clanged pots and bells over my head...
Unleashed hungry rats into my cell...
Made me clean their home, naked and in full view of company...
Used pliers on various parts of my body, including my nose, nipples, public hair, and genitals...
Tickled me until I felt sick...
Beat the soles of my feet with paddles and whips...
Buried me to the neck at the beach during
low tide...
Locked me in the freezer for two hours...
And they never believed me when I told them that I knew nothing. Only when I told them that Anthony was involved did they stop, never mind that he was in the next state that night and that I was visiting family that night.