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Bastinado was originally a Spanish word for the act of caning, in the literal sense of beating with a stick or similar implement. It is specifically used to refer to a form of torture or corporal punishment which consists of beating the soles of the offender's bare feet with a hard object, like a cane or rod, a club, a piece of wood, or a whip. Image File history File links Please see the file description page for further information. ... A Falaka was originally a Persian instrument of physical punishment used to immobilize torture victims who would then have the soles of their feet beaten with rods. ... Torture is defined by the United Nations Convention Against Torture as any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he... Corporal punishment is forced pain intended to change a persons behaviour or to punish them. ... For other uses, see Foot (disambiguation). ... Look up cane in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A club, cudgel, baton, truncheon, night stick, or bludgeon is among the simplest of all weapons. ... Trunks A tree trunk as found at the Veluwe, The Netherlands Wood is a solid material derived from woody plants, notably trees but also shrubs. ...

This torture is effective due to the clustering of nerve endings in the feet and the structure of the foot, with its numerous small bones and tendons. The feet were often tied together or to a wooden plank (called falaka in Persian, possibly the origin of the tradition in the Near East) and the victim would be made to walk around on his or her damaged feet afterwards, sometimes carrying weights. The wounds inflicted are particularly painful and take a long time to heal, rendering it a redoubtable deterrent but impractical as punishment for subordinates. Some point out that the prominent display of the offender's bare feet contains an element of punitive humiliation as well. This is especially true in Arabic cultures, where it is considered humiliating to bare the soles of one's feet. Nerves (yellow) Nerves redirects here. ... Grays Anatomy illustration of a human femur. ... A tendon (or sinew) is a tough band of fibrous connective tissue that connects muscle to bone and is built to withstand tension. ... A Falaka was originally a Persian instrument of physical punishment used to immobilize torture victims who would then have the soles of their feet beaten with rods. ... Humiliation is literally the act of being made humble, or reduced in standing or prestige. ...

This punishment has, at various times, been used in China, as well as the Middle East where it is known by the Arabic word falaqa and its Turkish form, falaka, as it was used throughout the Ottoman Empire (including the Balkans).^{[citation needed]} Bastinado had been, until recently, utilized as a form of corporal punishment in schools in the Middle East.[1] It was convenient in that it could be employed on both male and female students in lieu of other forms of punishment which would be inappropriate for female students (such as caning of the behind). Bastinado employed on students was not as harsh the kind employed on adults, in that only a long ruler was used to firmly slap the soles of the feet, delivering a slightly less agonising blow but sufficient to cause significant pain. A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ... Arabic ( or just ) is the largest living member of the Semitic language family in terms of speakers. ... A Falaka was originally a Persian instrument of physical punishment used to immobilize torture victims who would then have the soles of their feet beaten with rods. ... Motto دولت ابد مدت Devlet-i Ebed-müddet (The Eternal State) Anthem Ottoman imperial anthem Borders in 1680, see: list of territories Capital Söğüt (1299–1326) Bursa (1326–65) Edirne (1365–1453) Constantinople (İstanbul, 1453–1922) Language(s) Ottoman Turkish (official); spoken languages include Abkhazian, Adyghe, Albanian, Arabic, Aramaic, Armenian, Azerbaijani... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... The Sole is the bottom of the foot. ...

Bastinado in history

• The late Uday Hussein, a leader of Iraq's now-fallen Ba'ath Party regime and son of Saddam Hussein, is alleged to have used this method of torture on Olympic athletes who did not perform according to standards.
• The bastinado was used at the S-21 prison in Phnom Penh during the rule of the Khmer Rouge and is mentioned in the ten regulations to prisoners now on display in the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum.

Uday Hussein Uday Saddam Hussein al-Tikriti (June 18, 1964 Baghdad – July 22, 2003 Mosul), (Arabic: ‎) was the eldest son of Saddam Hussein and his first wife, Sajida Talfah. ... Bath Party flag The Arab Socialist Bath Party (also spelled Baath or Baath; Arabic: حزب البعث العربي الاشتراكي) was founded in 1945 as a radical, left-wing, secular Arab nationalist political party. ... Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was the fifth President of Iraq and Chairman of the Iraqi Revolutionary Command Council from 1979 until his overthrow by US forces in 2003. ... The infamous map of skulls that was once on display at the Tuol Sleng Museum One of the cells at Tuol Sleng, as seen today at Tuol Sleng Museum S-21 was a prison camp located in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, used by the Khmer Rouge from its rise to power... Khmer Rouge flag Photos of genocide victims on display at the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum The Khmer Rouge (Khmer: ) was the ruling political party of Cambodia -- which it renamed to Democratic Kampuchea -- from 1975 to 1979. ... The exterior of the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, Phnom Penh The Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum is a museum in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. ...

Bastinado in popular culture

• In act V, scene I of William Shakespeare's play, As You Like It, Touchstone threatens William with the line: "I will deal in poison with thee, or in bastinado, or in steel..."
• In act I, scene X of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera, Die Entführung aus dem Serail (The Abduction from the Seraglio), Osmin threatens Belmonte and Pedrillo with the bastinado: "Sonst soll die Bastonade Euch gleich zu Diensten steh'n."
• Included in a scene set in Egypt, in Mark Twain's 1869 novel The Innocents Abroad (illustrated link).
• Bastinado became well known to the Western public because of the 1978 movie Midnight Express.
• Bastinado is a form of punishment for women in Margaret Atwood's Handmaid's Tale.
• Bastinado is the name of a rock band from Portland, Oregon.
• The definition of bastinado given by Ambrose Bierce in The Devil's Dictionary is: Bastinado, n. The act of walking on wood without exertion.
• In the Mario Puzo novel The Sicilian, peasants of the town of Montelepre were often threatened by the national police or carabinieri with threats of bastinado beatings.
• In the 1994 film Quiz Show, Charles van Doren - whilst imagining what tortures the US Senate might inflict on him - suggests bastinado, along with the rack and the iron maiden.
• In Criminal Minds, Episode 215 "Revelations", Dr. Spencer Reid has the sole of his foot beaten as a form of punishment for perceived sins.
• In 2000, Bastinado was used as the title for the first album of Wilt, an Irish indie rock band, formed by ex-members of Kerbdog.
• In a 2002 episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Principal Robin Wood, after mentioning the bastinado, says, "No one ever knows what that thing is." Without hesitating, Buffy responds, "A wooden rod used to slap the soles of the feet in Turkish prisons, but, if made with the correct wood, makes an awesome Billy club." (7.2 - "Beneath You")
• In the TV series Bones, Dr Brennan notes that Agent Booth had been subjected to beatings on the bottom of his feet as a POW.
• In the Ward Just novel Forgetfulness (2006), a bastinado is used in interrogation of suspected Moroccan murderers/terrorists.
• In the book Angels in Iron, two Knights of Malta were bastinadoes to death for tricking the Turkish commander into attacking a strong point, saying that the point was weak.

Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Scene from As you like it, Francis Hayman, c. ... Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (IPA: , baptized Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart) (January 27, 1756 – December 5, 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. ... The Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Italy. ... Die Entführung aus dem Serail (K. 384; in English The Abduction from the Seraglio; also known as Il Seraglio) is a opera Singspiel in three acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. ... Innocents Abroad cover The Innocents Abroad, or The New Pilgrims Progress was published by American author Mark Twain in 1869. ... Year 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1978 Gregorian calendar). ... Midnight Express is a 1978 biographical film, based on the book of true accounts of Billy Hayes, a young American student sent to a Turkish prison for trying to smuggle cannabis out of Turkey to the US. However, it should be noted that the movie deviates from the books... Margaret Eleanor Atwood, OC (born November 18, 1939) is a Canadian writer. ... The Handmaids Tale is a dystopian novel by Canadian author Margaret Atwood, first published by McClelland and Stewart in 1985. ... Nickname: Location in Multnomah County and the state of Oregon Coordinates: Country United States State Oregon County Multnomah County Incorporated February 8, 1851 Government  - Mayor Tom Potter Area  - City  145. ... Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce (June 24, 1842 – 1914?) was an American editorialist, journalist, short-story writer and satirist, today best known for his Devils Dictionary. ... The Devils Dictionary, by Ambrose Bierce offers an interesting reinterpretation of the English language in which cant and political double-talk were neatly lampooned. ... Mario Gianluigi Puzo (October 15, 1920 – July 2, 1999) was an American author known for his novels about the Mafia, especially The Godfather (1969). ... Quiz Show is a 1994 film which tells the true story of the Twenty One quiz show scandal of the 1950s. ... Criminal Minds is a crime drama that premiered on CBS on September 22, 2005. ... 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Kerbdog are a heavy metal band from Kilkenny in the Republic of Ireland who began writing in 1991. ... Buffy the Vampire Slayer is is a two-time Emmy-winning and Golden Globe-nominated American cult television series that initially aired from March 10, 1997 until May 20, 2003. ... Principal Robin Wood is a recurring character on the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. ... Buffy Anne Summers is the eponymous fictional character in the film Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the television program of the same name and its numerous spin-offs, such as novels, comic books, and video games. ... Bones is an American drama television series that premiered on the Fox Network on September 13, 2005. ... Geneva Convention definition A prisoner of war (POW) is a soldier, sailor, airman, or marine who is imprisoned by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict. ... Ward Just (born 1935 in Waukegan, Illinois) is an American writer. ...

External links

• Youtube: "How Saddam Hussein used to torture people" – video of application of bastinado as a punishment