Entry #346113, added on 05-09-05 @ 3:37 am EDT
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| The Kenta'tapa & Kenta'hethikh | Entry #346113 |
These are two figures explained in the dictionary, but I thought perhaps they could use a bit of explanation here.
In a society with a lack of a regular police force, and where the rights of the citizens are not always guaranteed, it's to be expected that duties such as interrogation and detainment of suspects should fall to the soldiers themselves. The army is the police force, and the Kana guards of any powerful captain or general may be called upon to capture, imprison, and interrogate others accused of criminal acts. The most common methods of interrogation are repeated questioning, threats, and physical intimidation, including beating; the goal is most often to obtain a confession or information related to the crime, and the suspect is then later usually granted a trial to determine his guilt or innocence. While it may be argued that such interrogation tactics can force false confessions, the Apsiu do not have the legal safeguards and recourses that are available in modern society. Even with the right to a trial, there is no "innocent until proven guilty" statute, and usually the parties brought before the tribunal are only there because they were seen as guilty enough to be tried in the first place. Powerful Kana, even when accused of a severe crime, often go free.
Lesser offenses, if they are tried at all (which they often are not--interrogation and intimidation often being enough to remedy the wrong), are tried before a lesser tribunal, often the peers of the parties involved. Greater offenses--including such things as murder, impersonation, assault upon Kana, etc.--may be tried before the grand tribunal, a tribunal made up of the general and the top captains of the tribe. Such events are very rare, however, and the grand tribunal is not often called except in the most extreme cases. Moru and females almost never have recourse to a trial, and even lesser Kana may find themselves cheated and overlooked by the system, as it almost always favors those in power.
As said already, intertribal crimes such as theft, assault, etc. are usually taken care of by the soldiers through means of light to moderate interrogation; the harshest interrogation techniques are reserved for the worst offenders, which are most often traitors and spies (enemy scouts). In these cases, torture is sanctioned by Kana law, and even encouraged; enemies are not protected by the same laws which protect the citizens of a tribe, and traitors are treated as no better than enemies. In these cases, the beating interrogations issued by soldiers may give way to the tactics of the Kenta'tapa, the Chief Examiner or Interrogator. This is a Kana, usually not active in the military, who has been chosen for this specific purpose and this purpose only, that of torturing captured suspects in the hopes of eliciting confessions and information. It is to be understood that such tactics are NOT meant to punish the suspect--in these cases, punishment is almost always death by beheading, and so the interrogation tactics used by the Kenta'tapa are seen as merely that--interrogation tactics.
The Kenta'tapa is skilled in various kinds of beating, but he can do much more than the common soldiers, and is allowed much more leeway to be creative. Whipping is the tactic most frequently employed, as it most easily produces confessions; yet for more stubborn suspects, there are more elaborate means of interrogation. These include: cutting and/or incision with knives, slicing and/or peeling away of skin on sensitive areas of the body, removal of the ears and/or tail, extraction of the claws and/or teeth, removal of digits, bodily mutilation, burning with fire, brands, or scalding water, placing salt in wounds, crushing, suffocating or asphyxiation and then reviving, stretching or dislocation of the joints, suspending from ropes, being forced to stand while holding weights, near drowning, gouging of the eyes or blinding, inserting splinters beneath the claws or within sensitive parts of the body, castration, stabbing with knives or needles, breaking of bones, being forced to sit or stand in uncomfortable positions, binding with rope, being forcefed drugs, food, drink, or noxious substances, bleeding, and, in the most extreme cases, removal of limbs or wings (though this latter is often reserved to go along with the punishment). Psychological coercion, such as threats of violence against one's family or comrades, frightening with objects the suspect is afraid of, sleep and food deprivation, etc., are also frequently used--whichever gains a confession the quickest.
Oddly, aside from mutilation of the genitalia, sexual acts are usually not performed by the Kenta'tapa; these are considered a more "brute" form of punishment, rather than interrogation, and are more frequently employed as a humiliation tactic by the soldiers, upon their vanquished enemies. (Hakh'tua, or oral sex/fellatio, is almost exclusively the sexual act used in humiliating prisoners of war, though actual rape is not unheard of--witness the character Lieutenant Taka, who was forced to engage in both when an enemy general overtook his old tribe in a military coup.)
The duties of the Kenta'hethikh are similar, but much simpler. The Kenta'hethikh is the Chief Marker, the Kana whose duty it is to tattoo or brand the faces of those convicted of serious crimes. Whereas the Kenta'tapa's job is performed before the prisoner has been convicted of anything, if he even is to be, the Kenta'hethikh's job is performed afterward, as a sign to others of the crime(s) the accused has committed. The Kenta'hethikh is not always employed, and certainly not for every applicable case; his services are utilized when those in charge wish for a permanent reminder of the accused's deeds, usually as a means of humiliation. The work of the Kenta'hethikh always consists of a small tattoo or brand placed under the eye, spelling out some applicable term such as "Spy," "Traitor," "Child Molester," "Murderer," "Thief," etc. Though the Chief Marker's services are not often used for such smaller crimes as theft, if the convicted is a repeat offender it is more likely that his face will be marked to show this to the rest of the population. As expected, the Kenta'hethikh steps in most often in cases involving treason and murder. (He almost always marks the faces of captured spies and scouts, the exception to the abovestated rule regarding convictions; this is only because spies/scouts have no recourse to a trial.)
The job of tattooing consists of using a needle, dipping it in ink, and tapping it against the face of the guilty party; often restraints are needed to keep him in place as this is done, since it is of course a painful procedure. Some tattoos come out not so neatly as others due to the actions of the guilty party to try to break free, though most of those being marked submit to the punishment as best as they can, since to fight back can just make the procedure take all the longer. In rare cases, usually involving spies, a brand may be employed instead, and the proper mark burned into the skin below the eye. (In the case of tattoos, no, I am not sure how, but yes, they ARE visible beneath the Apsiu's fur; perhaps the short length of facial fur allows this. Those with darker fur may face more of a problem; perhaps the brand is more often used in these cases? Something to think about, at least. I have not described it happening anywhere in the series, but it seems likely also that the area to be tattooed would be shaved first. *shrug*)
Every Kenta'tapa and Kenta'hethikh carries the appropriate case containing their necessary tools; instruments of torture for the Kenta'tapa, such as sharpened sticks, a whip, knives, etc., and the tattooing needle, inks, and gauze (perhaps also a razor?) for the Kenta'hethikh. They carry out their duties very calmly and efficiently, and even dress in white lappets as if they are merely physicians tending to their patients, when pretty much the opposite is true.
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