Editing Torture (section)

===Pre-abolition===
[[File:History of Egypt, Chaldea, Syria, Babylonia and Assyria (1903) (14761195044).jpg|thumb|Two [[Elam]]ite chiefs flayed alive after the [[Battle of Ulai]], [[Assyrian relief]]|upright=1.3]]

Torture was legally and morally acceptable in most ancient, medieval, and early modern societies.{{sfn|Einolf|2007|p=104}} There is archaeological evidence of torture in [[Early Neolithic]] Europe, about 7,000 years ago.{{sfn|Meyer ''et al.''|2015|p=11217}} Torture is commonly mentioned in historical sources on [[Assyria]] and [[Achaemenid Persia]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Jacobs |first1=Bruno |title=Torture in the Achaemenid Period |url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/torture-achaemenid-period |website=[[Encyclopedia Iranica]] |access-date=7 March 2022 |date=16 March 2017}}</ref>{{sfn|Frahm|2006|p=81}} Societies used torture both as part of the judicial process and as punishment, although some historians make a distinction between torture and painful punishments.{{sfn|Hajjar|2013|p=14}}{{sfn|Barnes|2017|pp=26–27}} Historically, torture was seen as a reliable way to elicit the truth, a suitable punishment, and deterrence against future offenses.{{sfn|Evans|2020|loc=History of Torture}} When torture was legally regulated, there were restrictions on the allowable methods;{{sfn|Evans|2020|loc=History of Torture}} common methods in Europe included [[the rack]] and [[strappado]].{{sfn|Beam|2020|p=393}} In most societies, citizens could be judicially tortured only under exceptional circumstances and for a serious crime such as [[treason]], often only when some evidence already existed. In contrast, non-citizens such as foreigners and slaves were commonly tortured.{{sfn|Einolf|2007|p=107}}

Torture was rare in [[early medieval Europe]] but became more common between 1200 and 1400.{{sfn|Beam|2020|p=392}}{{sfn|Einolf|2007|pp=107–108}}{{sfn|Hajjar|2013|p=16}} Because medieval judges used an exceptionally high standard of proof, they would sometimes authorize torture when [[circumstantial evidence]] tied a person to a [[capital crime]] if there were fewer than the [[Unus testis, nullus testis|two eyewitnesses required]] to convict someone in the absence of a confession.{{sfn|Einolf|2007|pp=107–108}}{{sfn|Hajjar|2013|p=16}} Torture was still a labor-intensive process reserved for the most severe crimes;{{sfn|Beam|2020|pp=398, 405}} most torture victims were men accused of murder, treason, or theft.{{sfn|Beam|2020|p=394}} Medieval [[ecclesiastical courts]] and [[the Inquisition]] used torture under the same procedural rules as secular courts.{{sfn|Wisnewski|2010|p=34}} The [[Ottoman Empire]] and [[Qajar Iran]] used torture in cases where circumstantial evidence tied someone to a crime, although [[Islamic law]] has traditionally considered [[evidence obtained under torture]] to be [[Admissible evidence|inadmissible]].{{sfn|Einolf|2007|p=108}}