Box (torture)
The box, also known as a hot box or sweatbox, is a method of
arid regions as a method of punishment. Anyone placed in one would experience extreme heat, dehydration, heat exhaustion, or even death
, depending on when and how long one was kept in the box. Another variation of this punishment is known as sweating, the use of a heated room to punish or coerce a person into cooperating with the torturers.
Use
- The technique was used by prisons in the Southern United States until late in the 19th century and as punishment during times of slavery.[1]
- The technique, then known as the "sweat box", was used in the Union Army during the American Civil War.[2]
- The Hanoi Hilton.[3]
- The Chinese government has used "extreme heat" and "sweating" against dissidents.[4]
- Use of a "sweatbox" has also been reported as a method of punishment in North Korean concentration camps, notably in Kang Chol-hwan's book The Aquariums of Pyongyang.
- In 2008, it was revealed that the
- In 2009, Marcia Powell, a prisoner at Arizona State Prison Complex – Perryville, United States, died of heat exposure after being placed in an outdoor cage for four hours.[6]
- The Tarrafal camp, in Cape Verde, used a small windowless shack as a form of torture against prisoners, most of them convicted of conspiring against Salazar's regime in Portugal.
Hot box torture has been portrayed in numerous films and television shows, including Leadbelly, Stranger Things, 1923 and Escape Plan. A parody of hot box torture was portrayed by a sandbox in Toy Story 3. Box torture was also used on Josh Groban in Muppets Most Wanted.
See also
- Torture chamber
- Sensory deprivation
- Torture and the United States
References
- ^ Sheldon, Randall G. "Slavery in the Third Millennium, Part II – Prisons and Convict Leasing Help Perpetuate Slavery". The Black Commentator, Issue 142, 16 June 2005. Accessed 10 June 2009.
- ISBN 0-8094-4210-8.)
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - ^ Moe, Tom. "Pure Torture" Archived 22 December 2005 at the Wayback Machine (PDF version). Notre Dame Magazine, Winter 1995–96. Via the Internet Archive. Accessed 10 June 2009.
- ^ Torture in Detention Centres and Labour Camps Archived 27 March 2006 at the Wayback Machine. "China in Tibet – Striking Hard Against Human Rights", 1997 Annual Report, Human Rights Violations In Tibet. Tibetan Centre For Human Rights And Democracy, 4 February 1998. Accessed 10 June 2009.
- ^ Starr, Barbara. "U.S. segregates violent Iraqi prisoners in crates". CNN, 7 August 2008. Accessed 10 June 2009.