12. Requiring nothing more than a piece of rope, strappado is capable of inflicting severe lifelong injuries, or even death, within just an hour of torture.
The “strappado”, also known as “corda”, is a longstanding, simple, but nonetheless effective method of torture involving tying a victim’s hands behind their back. Suspending the individual by a rope attached to the wrists, with weights added, if necessary, to increase the pain. The strappado is so damaging that it cannot last for more than an hour without reprieve or risk of killing the subject. Commonly resulting in the dislocation of the arms and shoulders, the longer-term effects of the method are less visible, causing lifelong nerve, ligament, and tendon damage leading to potential paralysis.
Originally used by the Spanish Inquisition and other Holy Orders of the Middle Ages as part of interrogations, including against legendary Italian author Niccolò Machiavelli in 1513, the practice endured well into the Modern Age. Spreading far beyond the borders of Europe, the strappado was employed during the Salem Witch Trials in 1692. The United States has continued to use the method as recently as 2003, when, under interrogation by the CIA, Manadel al-Jamadi was killed after just 30 minutes at Abu Ghraib Prison. Conversely, the U.S. has also been victims of the practice, with the late Senator John McCain famously subjected to the technique during the Vietnam War.