Patricia Erb abduction and torture:
Patricia Erb, the 19-year-old daughter of a U.S. Mennonite Missionary, was abducted in September, 1976, by armed men in civilian clothes, blindfolded, and eventually tortured, but released under foreign pressure. She gave the following account of what she had endured:
"The day after my abduction, I was conducted, as were many others, to rooms which we called the ‘torture house.’ There, men dressed in civilian clothes interrogated us, using torture ‘when it was necessary’ in attempts to extract confessions. This torture took various forms: beatings with clubs and fists, kicks, immersion in water or in fecal substance almost to the point of drowning, and the use of la picana (electric prod) which was applied to the most sensitive parts of the body, such as the mouth, eyes, nose, vagina, breast, penis, feet and hands. In order to cause greater pain, they would tie us down to a wire bed which carried an electric current and entangled wire between our fingers and toes, splashing water on us in order to increase the pain. These methods were aimed at forcing confessions of alleged activities, which in many cases were inventions of the military. Sometimes these methods were used merely as punishment. After these interrogations we were taken again to the ‘barn,’ where the rest of the prisoners were being held. They, in turn, were conducted to the interrogation rooms while the rest of us could hear their screaming and howling. They came back almost unconscious and moaning in great pain. Sometimes doctors would come and look after the worst injuries, such as broken bones, bleeding kidneys, etc. I am very sorry I can’t remember the names of all the prisoners who were there with me. When I knew of the possibility of being freed, because of my nationality, I tried to memorize as many names as I could.229