Archive note: This text comes from the old archive of Nomika Epilekta and is preserved with care for historical and informational reading.

Throughout the whole course of history, human beings have shown that they used their imagination and inventiveness in order to find ways to torture their fellow human beings. In the centuries that passed, and especially during the Dark Middle Ages, some of the most brutal instruments of torture appeared, designed to cause unbearable pain and slow, agonizing death.

Today the full and absolute prohibition of torture applies, as it follows from Article 4 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (CFREU), which states that “no one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading punishment or treatment”.

In addition, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights states that “no one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. In particular, no one shall be subjected without his free consent to medical or scientific experimentation”.

Nevertheless, almost daily we witness violence and torture even in our own country. A walk through the historic centre of Athens after sunset is enough for you too to witness beatings and brutal conduct, mainly against foreigners, during routine identity checks by the police.

The Constitution in force, in Article 7 § 2, states that “torture, any bodily injury, damage to health or the use of psychological violence, as well as any other offence against human dignity, are prohibited and punished as the law provides”.

The Criminal Code (CC) makes even clearer the self-evident and inseparable, not only theoretical, right of all of us to the safety of our bodily integrity.

Article 137A CC: Torture and other offences against human dignity.

1. An official or military person, whose duties include the prosecution or interrogation or examination of punishable acts or disciplinary offences, or the execution of penalties, or the guarding or custody of detainees, shall be punished with imprisonment if, in the performance of these duties, he subjects to torture a person under his authority for the purpose of:

(a) extracting from that person or from a third person a confession, testimony, information or statement, especially a renunciation or acceptance of another ideology

(b) punishing

(c) intimidating that person or third persons The same penalty shall be imposed on an official or military person who, by order of his superiors or on his own initiative, usurps such duties and commits the acts of the preceding sentence.

2. Torture, according to the preceding paragraph, consists of any methodical infliction of intense physical pain or physical exhaustion dangerous to health, or mental pain capable of causing serious mental harm, as well as any unlawful use of chemical, narcotic or other natural or technical means for the purpose of breaking the victim's will.

3. Bodily injury, harm to health, the exercise of unlawful physical or psychological violence and any other serious offence against human dignity, committed by the persons, under the circumstances and for the purposes provided for in paragraph 1, where it does not fall within the meaning of paragraph 2, shall be punished with imprisonment of at least 3 years, unless punished more severely by another provision. Offences against human dignity are considered in particular:

(a) the use of a truth detector

(b) prolonged isolation

(c) serious offence against sexual dignity.

We searched and found some of the most appalling tortures that have been used from time to time, either in trials for the purpose of testimony or as punishment. We believe that the images below are distant memories of a dark past.

The heretic's fork

One end of this device was fastened under the victim's chin and the other to his sternum. A strap tied the device to the unfortunate heretic's neck. Immobilized and in incredible pain, the victim had to say the Latin word “abiuro” (I renounce), so as not to end up on the gallows or at the stake. Lead sprinkler This device, reminiscent of the Catholic holy-water sprinkler, was filled with molten lead or pitch or hot oil or hot water and was used to torture victims by dripping its contents onto various parts of their bodies. Although some fans of sadism (!) might be excited by its uses, most ordinary mortals who found themselves on the receiving end had the opposite view. Thumbscrew There are very many variations of this device. Some were made to crush fingers slowly, while others did the same to knees and elbows. It is a simple vise, but much more painful.

Tongue tearer

Countless heretics and blasphemers lost their tongues violently with this simple device.

The rack

The rack is a device whose sole purpose is to dislocate every joint in the victim's body. Tied along the length of the device by the wrists and ankles, the victim's body is stretched in opposite directions by turning simple rollers at the ends of the device.


Breast rippers

The purpose of the device is understandable from its name alone. Made exclusively for women, it was widely used on heretics, adulteresses and blasphemers.

Iron Maiden

This is an iron cabinet found in Nuremberg. The interior of the device is covered with carefully placed sharp objects intended to torture the unfortunate person who ends up inside it. The spikes reach the victim's eyes, chest and back but avoid injuring any vital organ, leaving the victim to bleed and suffer for a long time. Crocodile shears Some of the most shocking murders would have been avoided if this device were still in use. It was used mainly on regicides in Medieval Europe. The device is basically an iron pincer with semicylindrical blades which form a thin tube when closed. Inside them are nails or other sharp objects, which are first heated red-hot before being clamped onto the victim's genitals. When the latter have been sufficiently burned, they are torn from the body. The chair of Judas The Spanish Holy Inquisition used (among other tortures) the chair of Judas, otherwise known as the Cradle of Judas. Victims tied with ropes were positioned so that they sat on the sharp point of the chair, which was shaped like a pyramid. Simple and effective.

The pear

If there was anything worse than the breast ripper - although unlikely - it was undoubtedly the pear of anguish. The pear-shaped device, with the body of the pear consisting of 4 metal “leaves”, was inserted into the woman's vagina, anus or mouth, depending on the offence she had committed: in the mouth for heretics, in the other cavities for homosexuals, adulteresses or simply witches. When the pear had entered far enough, its metal leaves opened, causing extensive internal damage. The device rarely proved fatal, while it was also rarely used alone: a series of equally horrific tortures especially for women followed. The wheel Known by many names, such as the breaking wheel or Catherine wheel, this device ranks among the most painful of its kind. More a device of painful execution than a means of torture, the victim was tied to the side of the wheel and an executioner, using a hammer or an iron rod, broke all the victim's bones. The victim took hours or even days before departing this life, while a few lucky ones were granted mercy by receiving fatal blows to the stomach or chest.

Brazen bull

A device of which we can be “proud” as a people, since we hold its patent. Attributed to the Athenian Perillos, who presented it as a means of punishing criminals, this particular device is a bronze bull, hollow inside, with a door on the side. The victim entered the bull, under which a fire was lit until the bronze became red-hot. The victim was literally roasted inside it, while a complex system of pipes in the bull's head turned the victim's screams into sounds resembling an enraged bull. The accompanying photograph is misleading as to the victims' joy. As you will have understood, our history contains a long catalogue of tortures. And because we have always liked watching our fellow human being being tortured, in the capital of Malta, historic Mdina, otherwise known as the “Silent City”, there is a museum of torture. The building housing the museum is in reality a prison, in whose dungeons hundreds of people lost their lives in extremely torturous ways until 1813, when it ceased to operate. A walk through the dark and terrifying stone cells is enough for you to revive in your mind tortures of the Roman Empire, of Arab rule and also of the period of the Knights of Malta. Decapitated corpses, hanging skeletons, people dying of plague and, of course, executioners standing and looking grimly at victims and visitors. A spectacle exclusively for adults.. The conclusions are yours..