A stress position, also known as a submission position, is a form of

punishment Punishment, commonly, is the imposition of an undesirable or unpleasant outcome upon an individual or group, meted out by an authority—in contexts ranging from child discipline to criminal law—as a deterrent to a particular action or beh ...

that places the human body in such a way that a great amount of weight is placed on very few muscles. For example, a subject may be forced to stand on the balls of their feet, then squat so that their thighs are parallel to the ground. This creates an intense amount of pressure on the legs, leading first to pain and then rapid onset of

muscle fatigue Muscle fatigue is when muscles that were initially generating a normal amount of force, then experience a declining ability to generate force. It can be a result of vigorous exercise, but abnormal fatigue may be caused by barriers to or interfer ...

and tear. Forcing

prisoner A prisoner, also known as an inmate or detainee, is a person who is deprived of liberty against their will. This can be by confinement or captivity in a prison or physical restraint. The term usually applies to one serving a Sentence (law), se ...

s to adopt such positions is a

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons including corporal punishment, punishment, forced confession, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimid ...

technique that proponents claim leads to extracting information from the person being tortured.

Types of stress position

Murga punishment

Murga (also spelled murgha) is a stress position used as a

corporal punishment A corporal punishment or a physical punishment is a punishment which is intended to cause physical pain to a person. When it is inflicted on Minor (law), minors, especially in home and school settings, its methods may include spanking or Padd ...

mainly in parts of the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

(specifically

Northern India North India is a geographical region, loosely defined as a cultural region comprising the northern part of India (or historically, the Indian subcontinent) wherein Indo-Aryans (speaking Indo-Aryan languages) form the prominent majority populati ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

and

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

) where the punished person must squat, loop their arms behind their knees, and hold their earlobes. The word ''murga'' means "chicken" or "rooster", and the name reflects how the adopted pose resembles that of a chicken laying an egg. It is used primarily in educational institutions as a disciplinary, and when that position is slackened, the particular student is heavily back-canned; domestically, and occasionally by the

police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

as a summary, informal punishment for

petty crime A summary offence or petty offence is a violation in some common law jurisdictions that can be proceeded against summarily, without the right to a jury trial and/or indictment (required for an indictable offence). Canada In Canada, summary offe ...

. The punishment is usually administered in public view with the purpose being to halt the offense by inflicting pain, deter recurrence of the offense by shaming the offender, and provide a salutary example to others. Murga punishment places a great pressure on the knees, thus being a very painful experience.

Hands up punishment

The hands up punishment is a stress position given out as punishment in schools of the

(

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

, and

). In this punishment, one is made to raise their hands above their head for a period of time. The recipient of the punishment is not permitted to join their hands above their head, and if they do so, punishment time may be increased. The hands up position becomes painful within ten or fifteen minutes. The punishment is usually given for 30 minutes or more at a time. Sometimes one may be required to keep one leg up along with their hands. The student is not allowed to change legs. The hands up punishment can also be done two other ways. It can be done with the hands in front of the recipient or out the sides, and they cannot raise or lower the arms, only hold them out for a long time.

Eritrea

Eritrea Eritrea, officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa, with its capital and largest city being Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia in the Eritrea–Ethiopia border, south, Sudan in the west, and Dj ...

in the twenty-first century, several different stress-position torture methods are used.

Helicopter position

In the "helicopter position", the victim's arms and feet are tied behind their back. Their upper torso is bare, and they lie prone on the ground. They are typically kept in the position for one or two weeks, through all weather conditions, non-stop except for brief food and toilet breaks. In a variant of the method, the cord tying the arms and feet together is tied to a tree branch, suspending the victim from the ground. One Eritrean prisoner survived 55 days in the helicopter position, at temperatures of up to , after which his skin peeled off, and he was held for eight months with one hand and arm tied behind his back. The prisoner escaped from Eritrea and studied law in Canada.

Jesus Christ position

In the "Jesus Christ position", known to have been used since 2003 in Adi-Abeto Prison, the victim's upper torso is bare, the victim stands on a block, their arms are tied to branches of a tree, and the block is removed, leaving them in a similar position to that of

crucifixion Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the condemned is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross, beam or stake and left to hang until eventual death. It was used as a punishment by the Achaemenid Empire, Persians, Ancient Carthag ...

. The victim is then beaten on the back. The duration of this torture position is normally limited to about ten to fifteen minutes to allow the victim to survive.

References

External links

* Human Rights First
Leave No Marks: Enhanced Interrogation Techniques and the Risk of Criminality
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stress Positions Human positions Prisoner abuse Squatting position Torture