Prolonged beating of the soles of the feet, or phalanga as it is sometimes called, is definitely torture. It has a rich history. It is extremely painful, primarily because of the abundance of nerve endings in the sole of ones feet. It takes a long time to heal so the punishment effectively gets extended over a long period of time, possibly permanent.

Conveniently enough it leaves almost no evidence.

Edit:A study on the effects of phalanga http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:_4_CVER...

A friend of mine was in an orphanage in MX when he was a child. He suffered from extended beatings on his soles (among other things like cigarette burns and the like). I don't know if it's true, but he says he can't feel absolutely nothing with his soles (ie No pain).

So yes, this is definitely torture, with permanent consequences.

Too late to edit, but meant "possibly permanently".

According to the UN, torture is "... any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person ...".

It seems this is very much the case here.

from that defenition it sounds like any form of violence is torture.

Torture is violence on a detainee.

Find a school yard bully who beats people under the feet and I will call that torture.

If you don't think this boy has been tortured, John ascroft has a job for you.

What is torture then? Suffocating? Raping? About to die, then can be called torture?.

Maybe ask, 'would I want this done to me or someone I loved?'

At that point, putting someone in jail is torture. Heck, at that point, overcharging is torture: I wouldn't want it done to me.

rauha's was mostly a rhetorical question, a response to http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2082751