Pau de arara: Difference between revisions
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{{Short description|Torture method}} |
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{{more footnotes|date=November 2012}} |
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{{Italic title}} |
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'''''Pau de arara''''' ({{IPA|pt|ˈpaw dʒi aˈɾaɾɐ}}) is a torture method in which the victim is bound by the ankles and wrists, with the biceps under a pole and knees over it. The pau de arara torture method was widely used by during the [[Brazilian military dictatorship|military dictatorship in Brazil]]. It was previously used during World War II by [[Wilhelm Boger]] at [[Auschwitz concentration camp]], where it came to be known as the "'''Boger swing'''". |
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==Flat bed truck== |
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[[File:Caraubasdopiaui10122006-2.jpg|thumb|''Pau de Arara'' as a term referring to flat bed truck transportation.]] |
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== Name == |
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''Pau de Arara'' is a designation given in the [[Northeast Region, Brazil|Northeast Brazil]] to a flat bed [[truck]] adapted for passenger [[transportation]]. The truck's bed is equipped with narrow wooden benches and a canvas canopy. The term refers to long metal rails extending lengthwise under the canopy where passengers would hang on to when standing. |
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[[File:Monumento_Tortura_Nunca_Mais_-_Recife.jpg|alt=Example of pau de arara at the Tortura Nunca Mais monument|thumb|Example of ''pau de arara'' at the [[Monument Tortura Nunca Mais|Tortura Nunca Mais monument]]|left]] |
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This form of public transportation is still found in rural areas, but no longer available for interstate travel. In past decades, it was widely used by migrant workers fleeing periodic drought conditions in their home region. In the states of [[São Paulo (state)|São Paulo]] and [[Rio de Janeiro (state)|Rio de Janeiro]], their most frequent destination, ''Pau de Arara'' also became a derogatory slang term referring to them. There are frequent references to the ''Pau de Arara'' in Brazilian literature and popular song, used as a symbol for the plight of the ''Nordestino'' (Northeastern) migrant. |
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== Torture technique == |
== Torture technique == |
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[[File:Slavery in Brazil, by Jean-Baptiste Debret (1768-1848).jpg|thumb|[[Jean-Baptiste Debret|Jean-Baptiste Debret's]] painting ''Slavery in Brazil,'' depicting an enslaved African tied up in a pau de arara<ref>{{Cite web |title=O Brasil segundo Jean-Baptiste Debret |url=https://mundoeducacao.uol.com.br/historiadobrasil/o-brasil-segundo-jeanbaptiste-debret.htm |access-date=2022-11-16 |website=Mundo Educação |language=pt-br}}</ref>]] |
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''Pau de Arara'' can also refer to a physical [[torture]] technique designed to cause severe joint and muscle pain, as well as headaches and psychological trauma. The technique consists of a tube, bar or pole placed over the victim's biceps and behind the knees while tying the victim's both ankles and wrists together. The entire assembly is suspended between two metal platforms forming what looks like a bird's perch. |
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''Pau de arara'' is a physical [[torture]] technique designed to cause severe joint and muscle pain, as well as headaches and psychological trauma. The technique consists of a bar placed between the victim's biceps and the backs of their knees while their ankles and wrists are tied together. The bar is then suspended between two metal platforms forming what looks like a bird's perch.{{citation needed|date=June 2024}} This arrangement suspends them in such a way as to place their whole weight on the backs of their calves at a considerable mechanical disadvantage, severely straining their muscles, tendons and knees.{{citation needed|date=June 2024}} They can shift some of their weight to the tops of their forearms temporarily to relieve the strain on their legs, but this position is also painful for the same reasons, and since arms are weaker than legs, respite is only momentary.{{citation needed|date=June 2024}} By alternating between the positions to attempt to reduce their pain, eventually both their arm and leg muscles tire, leaving them in pain that they are unable to relieve. {{citation needed|date=June 2024}} |
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This technique is believed to originate from [[Portugal|Portuguese]] slave traders, which used ''Pau de Arara'' as a form of punishment for disobedient slaves. Its usage has been more recently widespread by the agents of the [[political police]] of the Brazilian military dictatorship against political dissidents in the 1960s and 1970s and is still believed to be in use by Brazilian police forces,<ref>{{cite book | last = Caldeira | first = Teresa P.R. | title = City of Walls. Crime, Segregation, and Citizenship in São Paulo | publisher = University of California Press | location = Berkeley | year = 2000 | isbn = 0-520-22143-5 | page=109}}</ref> although outlawed.<ref>[http://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil/LEIS/L9455.htm]</ref> The device was often used as a restraint for a combination of other torture techniques, such as [[water boarding]]; extraction of nails from the toes and fingers; branding; electric shocks; and sexual torture. |
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This technique is believed to originate from [[Portugal|Portuguese]] slave traders, which used ''pau de arara'' as a form of punishment for disobedient slaves. Its use has been more recently widespread by the agents of the [[political police]] of the Brazilian military dictatorship against political dissidents in the 1960s and 1970s and is still believed{{As of?|date=July 2024}} to be in use by Brazilian police forces,<ref>{{cite book | last = Caldeira | first = Teresa P.R. | title = City of Walls. Crime, Segregation, and Citizenship in São Paulo | publisher = University of California Press | location = Berkeley | year = 2000 | isbn = 0-520-22143-5 | page=109}}</ref> although outlawed.<ref>{{cite web |title=LEI Nº 9.455, DE 7 DE ABRIL DE 1997 |trans-title=LAW No. 9,455, OF APRIL 7, 1997 |url= http://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/leis/L9455.htm |website=Palácio do Planalto: Presidência da República |publisher=Government of Brazil |accessdate=23 January 2017 |archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20101124115401/http://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil/leis/L9455.htm |archivedate=2010-11-24 |language=Portuguese|date=1997-04-07 |url-status=live |quote=Define os crimes de tortura e dá outras providências. [Defines the crimes of torture and makes other provisions.]}}</ref> This torture technique was also used in [[Auschwitz]] during [[World War II]], where it was known as the ''Bogerschaukel'' (the Boger seesaw) or Boger swing, named after the [[Schutzstaffel|SS]] officer who first applied it, [[Wilhelm Boger]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Ex-Auschwitz Aide Relates His 'Horror' At Camp's Killings |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/01/11/archives/exauschwitz-aide-relates-his-horror-at-camps-killings.html |website=The New York Times |date=11 January 1964}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Leide |first1=Henry |title=NS-Verbrecher und Staatssicherheit. |date=2007 |publisher=Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht |page=S. 259}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |date=1964-01-17 |title=West Germany: The Auschwitz Business |url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,875580,00.html |access-date=2024-01-19 |magazine=Time |language=en-US |issn=0040-781X}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=When Auschwitz went to court – DW – 08/18/2015 |url=https://www.dw.com/en/auschwitz-trial-ensured-that-germany-would-never-forget/a-18654790 |access-date=2024-01-19 |website=dw.com |language=en}}</ref> |
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[[Brazil]]'s former president [[Jair Bolsonaro]] has cited his support for the technique, saying "the ''pau-de-arara'' works. I'm in favor of torture, you know that. And the people are in favor as well."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Fishman |first=Andrew |date=2018-10-28 |url=https://theintercept.com/2018/10/28/jair-bolsonaro-elected-president-brazil/|title=Jair Bolsonaro Is Elected President of Brazil. Read His Extremist, Far-Right Positions in His Own Words.|website=The Intercept|language=en-US|access-date=2018-10-29}}</ref> |
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== ''Pau de arara: la violence militaire au Brésil'' == |
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[[François Maspero]] published ''[[Pau de arara: la violence militaire au Brésil]]'' in France in 1971.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Reimão |first1=Sandra |last2=Maués |first2=Flamarion |last3=Nery |first3=João Elias |date=2017-03-16 |title=France, 1971; Brésil, 2013 : deux éditions du livre Pau de arara et la mémoire de la répression |url=https://journals.openedition.org/bresils/2236 |journal=Brésil(s). Sciences humaines et sociales |volume=11 |language=fr |issue=11 |doi=10.4000/bresils.2236 |issn=2257-0543|doi-access=free }}</ref> The book, which discussed [[Human rights abuses of the military dictatorship in Brazil (1964-1985)|military violence]] in Brazil, was banned in Brazil during the military dictatorship.<ref name=":0" /> It was first published in Brazil in 2013.<ref name=":0" /> |
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== References == |
== References == |
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== External links == |
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* [https://www.flickr.com/photos/96335276@N05/8814165376 A photograph of the ''pau de arara'' position] |
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[[Category:Contemporary instruments of torture]] |
[[Category:Contemporary instruments of torture]] |
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[[Category:European instruments of torture]] |
[[Category:European instruments of torture]] |
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Latest revision as of 20:19, 23 December 2024
Pau de arara (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈpaw dʒi aˈɾaɾɐ]) is a torture method in which the victim is bound by the ankles and wrists, with the biceps under a pole and knees over it. The pau de arara torture method was widely used by during the military dictatorship in Brazil. It was previously used during World War II by Wilhelm Boger at Auschwitz concentration camp, where it came to be known as the "Boger swing".
Name
[edit]
Pau de arara is a Portuguese term that literally translates to "macaw's perch". The term originates from bird sellers' practice of tying the birds to a perch, where they also hang for transportation.
Torture technique
[edit].jpg)
Pau de arara is a physical torture technique designed to cause severe joint and muscle pain, as well as headaches and psychological trauma. The technique consists of a bar placed between the victim's biceps and the backs of their knees while their ankles and wrists are tied together. The bar is then suspended between two metal platforms forming what looks like a bird's perch.[citation needed] This arrangement suspends them in such a way as to place their whole weight on the backs of their calves at a considerable mechanical disadvantage, severely straining their muscles, tendons and knees.[citation needed] They can shift some of their weight to the tops of their forearms temporarily to relieve the strain on their legs, but this position is also painful for the same reasons, and since arms are weaker than legs, respite is only momentary.[citation needed] By alternating between the positions to attempt to reduce their pain, eventually both their arm and leg muscles tire, leaving them in pain that they are unable to relieve. [citation needed]
This technique is believed to originate from Portuguese slave traders, which used pau de arara as a form of punishment for disobedient slaves. Its use has been more recently widespread by the agents of the political police of the Brazilian military dictatorship against political dissidents in the 1960s and 1970s and is still believed[as of?] to be in use by Brazilian police forces,[2] although outlawed.[3] This torture technique was also used in Auschwitz during World War II, where it was known as the Bogerschaukel (the Boger seesaw) or Boger swing, named after the SS officer who first applied it, Wilhelm Boger.[4][5][6][7]
Brazil's former president Jair Bolsonaro has cited his support for the technique, saying "the pau-de-arara works. I'm in favor of torture, you know that. And the people are in favor as well."[8]
Pau de arara: la violence militaire au Brésil
[edit]François Maspero published Pau de arara: la violence militaire au Brésil in France in 1971.[9] The book, which discussed military violence in Brazil, was banned in Brazil during the military dictatorship.[9] It was first published in Brazil in 2013.[9]
References
[edit]- ^ "O Brasil segundo Jean-Baptiste Debret". Mundo Educação (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2022-11-16.
- ^ Caldeira, Teresa P.R. (2000). City of Walls. Crime, Segregation, and Citizenship in São Paulo. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 109. ISBN 0-520-22143-5.
- ^ "LEI Nº 9.455, DE 7 DE ABRIL DE 1997" [LAW No. 9,455, OF APRIL 7, 1997]. Palácio do Planalto: Presidência da República (in Portuguese). Government of Brazil. 1997-04-07. Archived from the original on 2010-11-24. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
Define os crimes de tortura e dá outras providências. [Defines the crimes of torture and makes other provisions.]
- ^ "Ex-Auschwitz Aide Relates His 'Horror' At Camp's Killings". The New York Times. 11 January 1964.
- ^ Leide, Henry (2007). NS-Verbrecher und Staatssicherheit. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. p. S. 259.
- ^ "West Germany: The Auschwitz Business". Time. 1964-01-17. ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved 2024-01-19.
- ^ "When Auschwitz went to court – DW – 08/18/2015". dw.com. Retrieved 2024-01-19.
- ^ Fishman, Andrew (2018-10-28). "Jair Bolsonaro Is Elected President of Brazil. Read His Extremist, Far-Right Positions in His Own Words". The Intercept. Retrieved 2018-10-29.
- ^ a b c Reimão, Sandra; Maués, Flamarion; Nery, João Elias (2017-03-16). "France, 1971; Brésil, 2013 : deux éditions du livre Pau de arara et la mémoire de la répression". Brésil(s). Sciences humaines et sociales (in French). 11 (11). doi:10.4000/bresils.2236. ISSN 2257-0543.
- Box, Ben; Jane Eggington; Mick Day (2003). Brazil Handbook. Footprint Travel Guides. ISBN 1-903471-44-3.
- MacCann, Bryan (2004). Hello Brazil: Popular Music in the Making of Modern Brazil. Duke University Press. ISBN 0-8223-3273-6.