U.S. teenager tortured in Kuwait and barred re-entry into the U.S.

Re:U.S. teenager tortured in Kuwait and barred re-entry into... by srean on Saturday January 08, 2011 @04:53AM (#2082764)

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...

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Re:U.S. teenager tortured in Kuwait and barred re-entry into... by yeahsure on Saturday January 08, 2011 @08:01PM (#2084445)

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.

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Re:U.S. teenager tortured in Kuwait and barred re-entry into... by srean on Saturday January 08, 2011 @07:26AM (#2082933)

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

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