THOUGHTS TO PONDER

“Were you there when they crucified our Lord?”

The Romans were talented at many things: building roads, hypocaust central heating, beautiful public buildings – and torture. They probably learned the technique of crucifixion from the Carthaginians. It was not torture to extract information, but to show the consequences of crime, or of challenging the authority of Rome. The victim of crucifixion was not always flogged first, as flogging in itself was a terrible punishment, with the victim left with massive blood loss and permanent damage to the back muscles. It could be that Pilate had intended this to be the punishment alone, and that he was later pushed by public clamouring into allowing the execution of Jesus. All victims of crucifixion carried the horizontal beam of the cross to the place of execution. Artists later imagined Jesus carrying the whole cross, but it would have taken many men to carry such a weight. The victim was nailed to the cross, with nails through the wrists, and the arches of the feet nailed together. Once upright, the victim had to push down on the feet in order to take air into the lungs and momentarily relieve the searing pain in the arms. It took many hours to die, and when the centurions had had enough hanging around, they broke the legs of victims so that they could no longer push up to breathe, and they suffocated. Jesus was mercifully dead by then, and his legs were not broken. One of the torture techniques used in today’s world is to force family members to watch the rape or torture of a loved one. This is so unbearable that a person may break down and give information or confess to anything. The Romans surpassed today’s methods. Family and friends could choose whether or not to go and see their loved one die in agony. Would you have gone to watch your son die, or stayed away until it was all over?

According to Amnesty International, over 100 countries still practise torture. In some countries, techniques are being reinvented and renamed to emphasise psychological pressure rather than physical suffering. Any form of torture attacks a person’s sense of identity, dignity and humanity. It has long-term effects, both physical and psychological. Torture victims are often ashamed to admit to anyone what has happened to them, but with specialised care rehabilitation is possible. Some of the asylum-seekers who come to Europe are torture survivors, and are helped by organisations like the Medical Foundation for Care of Victims of Torture. At last they can tell their horrific story to a sympathetic listener. They can receive medical treatment, beginning by simply allowing another person to touch their body, and psychological care to help them overcome mental terrors.

All forms of torture are prohibited under international law. This universal legal prohibition is based on an international ethical consensus that torture and ill treatment are repugnant, abhorrent and immoral.

The perpetrators of torture, as well as the victims, are scarred for life by what they have lived through. As Christians we remember “both the oppressor and the oppressed” and “the good news for those in despair”. We are thankful for the work of human rights organisations and those who work to bring new lifeto those who have been tortured.  Dare we call this new life a resurrection?

Jean Haskell