If someone asked you to think of torture devices, you would probably picture some crazy medieval contraption. But you probably couldn't come up with any modern torture devices because, hey, no one really tortures anyone any more. Right? Wrong.
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While the Strappado was used heavily during the Renaissance, it seems to have experienced a resurgence during the last century. Many people may now know it as Palestinian Hanging, a form of torture where a prisoner is hung by their arms, which are fastened behind their head, causing the arms to be slowly wrenched from the shoulder sockets by the weight of the body. When the prisoner finally becomes so tired they cannot hold themselves upright, their bodies fall forward and their breathing is impaired.
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One of the last known cases of the United States using this form of torture was on Mandel al-Jamadi in 2003. He was arrested for allegedly being involved in making explosives and was sent to Abu Ghraib, where he died while being tortured.
