Religious Torture
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Tortured for their Faith "Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority police are conducting a violent campaign against Muslim Arab converts to Christianity in recent months. In late July, the Digest heard first-hand accounts revealing that a number of Christian Arabs near Nablus (Samaria) have been threatened, imprisoned, interrogated, beaten and tortured by the PA security services for the "criminal" behaviour of professing their new-found Christian faith." |
Museums and Exhibits
 Torture: Inquisition
Capital Punishment
"... The collection is owned by Italian independent scholars who have made these instruments available for traveling exhibits on the subject of TORTURE. This collection shown for the first time in the U.S., in the city of San Francisco co-sponsored by Fort Mason Foundation.
Shown in many historical and prestigious venues all over Europe, in Tokyo, in Argentina and Mexico, the exhibit has always raised the interest of millions of visitors and the press, not only for its great visual impact, but also for its clear message against the violation of human rights.
Such violations have given rise to a great amount of resistance throughout the centuries and in the most diverse cultural contexts, and unfortunately continue to be very topical today.
Our commitment, which we share with all who are interested in combating violence, torture, and capital punishment against living beings, is to show how throughout the centuries human beings have been tortured, both in body and soul, in the name of the truth, its only justification often being submission to the authorities.
All over the world, in the past and in the present, torture has been practiced both against the body and the mind of the victim.
It is devastating and inhuman, in its effect. It certainly cannot be called a punishment , but is merely an exercise in brutality and savagery, akin to the crime often only allegedly committed by the offender.
Today society should have the power to produce a new code of justice based on recognizing human dignity and the equal and inalienable rights of every individual.
Let those who are reading this view for themselves the "instruments' shown in this exhibit ; observe in silence, interpret with freedom of thought, conscience, religion, etc, and express their conclusions exercising their freedom of speech...."
Instruments of Torture |
Middle Ages Torture Museum "Come and view the instruments used for torture in the middle ages. Learn about the methods of torture, witches, funeral piles, witch-hunts, witchcraft, the Inquisition, and the Medieval punishments." In this instructional exhibition you will see: Whipping posts, gallows, stretching ladder, knee screws, breast talons, heretic forks, guillotine, iron lock jaw, iron collars of thorns, chastity belts, thumb screws, head presses, pendulums, storks, three beamed harrow, barrel pillory, humiliation masks, wheels, garrotes, tongs, interrogator's chair, hanging cages, Judas scale, the rack, executioner's axe, and lots more. More information including colored photos of interrogation chair and humiliation masks.
The Medieval Crime Museum "... It is the only museum of law in the European area, and is the most important collection of the history of rights there is. On 4 floors, about 2000 square-meters, and in more than 130 glass-cases we give you a unique and complete glance at more than thousand years of legal history. Shown is the development of jurisprudence to the 19th century. In addition to state and constitutional law, of prime interest to us are civil degradation penalties and police laws, which are very revealing with respect to the notions, laws, customs and cultures of our forefathers. Additionally, these exhibits include instruments of torture, items used in the execution of sentences, costly books, graphic arts, documents of emperors, princes, the nobility and towns. Also included are coats of arms, seals, crafts, trades and patents of the nobility; caricatures of the judiciary, juristic ex libris, schools and their punishments, medals of law and justice, and legal symbolisms from seven centuries..."
Museum of Torture "... provides one hundred grisly exhibits of mankind's cruelty to one another. Ten wax figures are placed in torture instruments so nasty that you are glad they feel no pain. The highlight of the museum is the audio-visual extravaganza of a witch burning and a sword execution...." Cheesy!
Witch Hunts
The Witch Persecutions
Witch Hunt "The following are all documented incidents in the killings of "witches."
Execution by Lethal Injection
Death by Lethal Injection: What REALLY Happens
How Lethal Injection Works
Execution by Gas Chamber
Colorado Territorial Prison Museum contains...." the actual hangman's noose of the last man to have his neck stretched in Colorado, prison contraband, a scale model of a gas chamber, and disciplinary paraphernalia used from 1871 to the present.... An actual gas chamber sits on the lawn in front of museum, a little weather-worn, but nonetheless impressive...."
Wyoming Frontier Prison and State Gas Chamber "....staffed by enthusiastic youngsters who happily allow all to sit inside the gas chamber where five lawbreakers were executed. They'll strap you in, and even shut the door if you so desire. Three times a week, night tours are offered in pitch darkness...."
Cyanide, Consciousness and Pain: Is Execution by Lethal Gas Cruel? (photo of San Quentin Gas Chamber) "In 1993 Judge Marilyn Patel of the San Francisco Federal Court agreed and just recently, on February 22, 1996 the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld her decision as follows: '...we conclude that execution by lethal gas under the California protocol is unconstitutionally cruel and unusual and violates the 8th and 14th Amendments. The district court's permanent injunction against defendants is AFFIRMED'."
Execution by Hanging
Warning: ALL of the following links contain ACTUAL AUTHENTIC PHOTOS of REAL HANGINGS. Do NOT click if you will be offended by what you see. ADULTS ONLY.
The Last Public Execution in America "On August 14, 1936, Rainey Bethea was hanged in Owensboro, Kentucky, before a crowd of 20,000. The public outrage which followed resulted in the complete abolition of public executions in the United States. This site provides the complete text of the book, The Last Public Execution in America, as well as numerous photographs taken at the time of the hanging." FREE Downloadable Book and Photo.
Public Hanging of Four Lincoln Assassins "... George Andreas Atzerodt (June 12, 1835 – July 7, 1865) was a conspirator with John Wilkes Booth in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Atzerodt as well as three other convicted conspirators (Mary Surratt, Lewis Payne and David Herold) were hanged in Washington, DC on July 7, 1865. George Atzerodt's last words were: "May we all meet in the other world. God take me now."
Hanging of the Convicted Conspirators July 7, 1865 "....Roughly 1,000 people, viewing from windows, walls, the courtyard, and buildings, witnessed the affair. (Because such a large number of people wished to view the execution, tickets had been issued to limit the actual number in the courtyard). At approximately 1:26 P.M., July 7, 1865, General John F. Hartranft clapped his hands together three times. After the third time two soldiers underneath the gallows knocked away the supporting posts with long poles and the trap doors snapped downward. The bodies of the four victims dropped about 5 to 6 feet and then came up with a sharp jerk at the end of each rope. After the hanging about 25 minutes elapsed, and the bodies were cut down...." Library of Congress Photo of 4 men hanging
Adjusting the Ropes Prior to Hanging Library of Congress Photo
A Very Rare Photo of Lewis Paine on the Gallows Photo from old stereograph
Three of the 19 camp guards tried and convicted by a general military court at Dachau (separate from the Nuremberg one) for atrocities committed at Mauthasen await execution by hanging at Landsberg prison Warning: graphic Nazi death camp photo on same page.
History of the Sierra Country Sheriff's Gallows
Execution by Guillotine
The Guillotine Headquarters Take a jump back in time to see the History of the guillotine, or learn more about the Construction. You can also see more pictures of the guillotine in the Gallery. Under Names you will find information on people related to the guillotine in one way or another.
Wikipedia on the Guillotine Includes historic photos and photos of replicas of guillotines.
History of the Guillotine
Interesting Prisons
Old Adelaide City Gaol
Death Penalty and Capital Punishment in the U.S.
Information on the Death Penalty
Death Penalty Information Center
ACLU Freedom Network
Innocence and the Death Penalty |
