Method 5: Beatings

One study of 69 refugees found that 97 percent of survivors reported being beaten at the hands of their captors [source: Olsen, et al]. "Beatings are universal, although implements may vary," writes Vincent Lacopino in "The Medical Documentation of Torture" [source: Locapino]. Beating torture can be as simple as punching, slapping or kicking a victim. Beatings may come spontaneously, or in conjunction with other methods. Tibetans held in Chinese prisons in the 1980s and 1990s reported suffering combinations of torture, including beatings and electric shock [source: Government of Tibet in Exile]. Beatings may also be delivered via instruments like hoses, belts, bamboo shoots, batons and other blunt weapons.

There are some specific methods to this kind of torture, too. The falanga (or falanka, depending on where in the world you're being tortured) method involves beating the soles of the feet. This type of torture can leave victims' feet insensitive to touch and temperature. It can also result in "pain in [victims'] feet and lower legs and a compensated gait pattern, usually with severe pain during walking" [source: Prip and Perrson].

Read about electric shocks as modes of torture on the next page.