Already in the sixth century before Christ, the Buddha rejected the theory that physical punishment, whether inflicted on oneself or by another has the power to expiate sin. He publicly denounced the ritual sacrifice of humans and animals as a product of misguided religiosity Kutadanta Sutra Digha Nikaya I.
- Was Jesus really nailed to the cross?.
- Mark 15:1-40.
- Accords Manouches/Gypsy Jazz Chords (French Edition).
Today, most countries have abandoned the practice of public torture and execution of convicted criminals. In Western Europe and North America torture of arrestees seem to be exception rather than the rule. In the so-called Third World countries however torture of persons of individuals taken into custody is routinely practiced.
The rituals of horror have been shifted from the public arena to the enclosed space of police and army posts.
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People are no longer exposed to the arbitrary whims of a despotic god or king but are often subjected to the caprice of the agents of the law who take them into custody. While many officers do excellent detective and investigation work, most resort to torture in order to extract a confession from a suspect. Many police stations have become virtual torture chambers. Torturing detainees has become very much a part of the internal culture of the police.
Senior police officers cover up the misdemeanours of their subordinates. Times and dates of arrest are falsified, records are fixed to get a delinquent officer off the hook in case a fundamental rights case would be filed. This has given a sardonic twist to perfunctory news reports that a suspect is "being held in police custody". A few weeks ago, when the police produced doctored documents and false testimony to cover up the torture of an innocent man they had taken into custody, the exasperated magistrate asked with Juvenal " Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
The frequency of police torture and official indifference in the face of it is so alarming that a group of concerned persons founded an organisation called the Janasansadaya Peoples Forum to expose these crimes against humanity and bring to justice the thugs in police uniform. To create public awareness of these state-sanctioned atrocities, Janasansadaya and the Asian Human Rights Commission, Hong Kong, launched a campaign against the practice of torture by the Sri Lankan police on the 4th of February , to coincide with the celebration of 54 years of independence from British Rule.
The campaign was organised around the single question: The Day Against Torture attracted hundred of victims of torture and their families. Some of the participants were the relative of victims who had died of torture in prison stations. They were given the opportunity to speak out their grief and to lament the cruel indifference of the justice system to their pleas for justice.
Three examples from the scores of public testimonies made by victims of police torture may hopefully shock readers and impel them to demand that the authorities take firm action against to stop the atrocities routinely committed by the police. The first is the case of a frail twelve year old boy arrested on a charge of theft.
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He is supposed to have climbed down from the roof of a cooperative stores and stolen some goods. The boy was severely beaten and tortured to extract a confession. The heartrending fact is that this boy is mentally retarded. He was incapable of understanding the charges brought against him or why he was so mercilessly beaten. Despite pleadings by the father to have the boy released to his care the magistrate ordered that the boy be remanded in a juvenile house of probation, as he was a minor. Kindly officials of this house had the boy examined by a leading Colombo psychiatrist, who confirmed that the boy is mentally retarded and that he would not have been able to climb a roof and let himself down to commit the robbery.
This certificate was produced in court, but it does not seem to have impressed the judge. The charges have not been dropped. The trumped up charges it now appears was politically instigated. Police raided the house of an extremely poor couple on a tip off that illicit liquor was stored there.
No one was at home. The policemen broke in, found nothing and in frustration smashed up the few meagre possessions of the occupants and waited. When the thirty three year old woman of the house came home, the police pounced on her and demanded to know where her husband was. And they did it often. Do not stir dissent or this will be the result.
The Crucifixion of Jesus - Bible Story Verses and Meaning
It was a popular method of dispatching threats to the empire. But crucifixion sent a more lingering message. Jesus would then have been part of this show of power by the Roman Empire. Some scholars even suggest that the two crucified on either side of Jesus may have been co-conspirators of Barabbas.
The Physical Horror of Crucifixion. Each aspect of death on the cross had its particular ghastliness, some less accurately depicted by artists than others. The discovery of the bones of a crucified man, now in a museum in Israel, points to the fact that the feet were likely not stacked on the front of the cross. How the crucifixion itself was conducted made a difference. They could be upside down, tied up, nailed up. Meanwhile, Chicago is in terror as the deaths mount and the race is on to stop the mayhem.
Read more Read less. Product description Product Description A serial killer in the Chicago metro area is poisoning people and leaving an ironically shocking reminder by placing a different framed illustration of a "Station of the Cross" — from the Catholic religious ceremony — at the scene of each crime.
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Write a product review. Most helpful customer reviews on Amazon. I enjoyed both the plot and the tone of this novel.
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The author presents a story with interesting characters, engaging detail, and a comfortable pace. The dialogue is exceptionally well crafted, giving the characters authentic voice and moving the story with smooth, realistic interaction. The story is steeped in Catholic dogma, yet the reader is led gently through some of the murkier aspects of religious complexity.