Stress position


A stress position, also known as a submission position, is a form of punishment 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 and tear.
Forcing prisoners to adopt such positions is a torture technique that proponents claim leads to extracting information from the person being tortured.

Positions

Murga punishment

Murga is a stress position used as a corporal punishment mainly in parts of the Indian subcontinent where the punished person must squat, loop their arms behind their knees, and hold their earlobes. The word murga means "chicken" or "rooster." The pose is aptly named, as it's intended to look like a chicken laying an egg.
Murga is used primarily as discipline within educational institutions. While in this position, the student is often struck repeatedly on the back. It also sees usage by the police, as an informal punishment for petty crime. The punishment is usually administered in public as a type of public humiliation. Murga places sustained stress on the knees, and movement during the posture further increases discomfort. Additions can include one or more of: forced walking, which puts extra pressure on the glutes and calves, nudity, usage of candles to prevent sitting, and forced squatting.

Helicopter position

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