Kneecapping
{{Short description|Form of malicious injury to the knee}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
Kneecapping is a form of malicious wounding, often as torture, in which the victim is injured in the knee. The injury is typically inflicted by a low-velocity gunshot to the knee pit with a handgun. The term is considered a misnomer by medical professionals{{citation needed|date=October 2024}} because only a very small minority of victims suffer damage to the kneecap{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}. A review of eighty kneecapping victims found that only two had a fractured kneecap{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}. Some victims have their elbows and ankles shot as well.{{sfn|Barr|Mollan|1989|pp=740–741}}
Treatment
The severity of the injury can vary from simple soft tissue damage to a knee joint fracture with neurovascular damage. The latter requires several weeks in hospital and intensive outpatient physiotherapy for recovery.{{sfn|Barr|Mollan|1989|pp=740–741}} If the damage is too great, amputation may be necessary,{{sfn|Williams|1997|p=79}} but this rarely occurs. In Northern Ireland thirteen people had their legs amputated as a consequence of limb punishment shootings over the duration of the Troubles.{{sfn|Graham|Parke|2004|p=229}} In the long term it is estimated that one out of five victims will walk with a limp for the rest of their lives.{{sfn|Conroy|1980}}
History
{{see also|Paramilitary punishment attacks in Northern Ireland}}
During the Troubles in Northern Ireland, paramilitaries considered themselves to be law enforcers in their own areas. They used limb shootings to 'punish' alleged "political" and "normal" criminals. The IRA defined "political" crime as informing or fraternizing with British soldiers, while "normal" crime was judged to include vandalism, theft, joyriding, rape, selling drugs, and antisocial behaviour. See Paramilitary punishment attacks in Northern Ireland.
If the crime was considered to be grave, the victim was also shot in the ankles and elbows, leaving them with six gunshot wounds (colloquially known as a six pack).{{cite news|last1=Crawford|first1=Duncan|title=Northern Ireland kneecapping victim 'shot four times'|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/10056251/northern-ireland-kneecapping-victim-shot-four-times |work=Newsbeat |publisher=BBC News |date=28 January 2010 |access-date=14 January 2021}} Approximately 2,500 people were victims of these paramilitary attacks, known as 'punishment shootings' at the time, through the duration of the conflict. Those who were attacked often faced social stigma.{{sfn|Williams|1997|pp=78–80}}
The Red Brigades, an Italian militant organization, employed limb shootings ({{wt|en|gambizzazione|gambizzazioni}}) to warn their opponents. They used the method to punish at least 75 people up to December 1978.{{sfn|Orsini|2011|pp=}}{{sfn|Amnesty International Ireland|2009|p=3}}
The Bangladesh Police have started kneecapping in the country since 2009 to punish the opposition and prevent them from participating in protests against the government. Human Rights Watch (HRW) has published a report on kneecapping in Bangladesh.{{cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/09/29/bangladesh-stop-kneecapping-detainees|title=Bangladesh: Stop 'Kneecapping' Detainees|date=29 September 2016|access-date=10 May 2017}}
During the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Hamas kneecapped{{Cite web |title=Gaza: Hamas kneecappings, punishment beatings and killings of 'collaborators' revealed in new Amnesty report |url=https://www.amnesty.org.uk/press-releases/gaza-hamas-kneecappings-punishment-beatings-and-killings-collaborators-revealed-new |access-date=2025-04-25 |website=www.amnesty.org.uk |language=en}} Gazans suspected of working with Israel. Amnesty International published a report on kneecapping in Gaza and called on Hamas to end “the campaign of abuses.”
During the [https://www.unrwa.org/campaign/gaza-great-march-return march of return] on 30th March 2018, Israeli snipers boasted about shooting mostly unarmed Palestinian protestors in the knees{{Cite web |date=2020-03-08 |title=Israeli snipers talk about their hits at the Gaza fence |url=https://mondoweiss.net/2020/03/i-remember-the-knee-in-the-crosshairs-bursting-open-israeli-snipers-boast-of-shooting-ducks-in-gaza/ |access-date=2025-04-30 |website=Mondoweiss |language=en-US}} at an overwhelmingly peaceful protest according to the UN and multiple air organizations.{{Cite web |title=gaza - great march of return |url=https://www.unrwa.org/campaign/gaza-great-march-return |access-date=2025-04-30 |website=UNRWA |language=en}} Amnesty International condemned the unlawful maiming and attacks on the protesters.{{Cite web |date=2018-04-27 |title=Israel: Arms embargo needed as military unlawfully kills and maims Gaza protesters |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2018/04/israel-arms-embargo-needed-as-military-unlawfully-kills-and-maims-gaza-protesters/ |access-date=2025-04-30 |website=Amnesty International |language=en}}
See also
Citations
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General sources
{{refbegin|30em|indent=yes}}
- {{cite web | title=Gaza: Hamas kneecappings, punishment beatings and killings of 'collaborators' revealed in new Amnesty report | url=https://www.amnesty.org.uk/press-releases/gaza-hamas-kneecappings-punishment-beatings-and-killings-collaborators-revealed-new | publisher=Amnesty International UK | date=10 February 2009 | access-date=8 January 2014 | ref={{sfnRef|Amnesty International UK|2009}}}}
- {{cite web|title=Hamas' deadly campaign in the shadow of the war in Gaza |url=http://www.amnesty.ie/reports/hamas%E2%80%99-deadly-campaign-shadow-war-gaza |publisher=Amnesty International Ireland |date=February 2009 |access-date=8 June 2015 |ref={{sfnRef|Amnesty International Ireland|2009|p=3}} |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150703063317/http://amnesty.ie/reports/hamas%E2%80%99-deadly-campaign-shadow-war-gaza |archive-date= 3 July 2015 }}
- {{cite journal | last1=Barr | first1=R. J. | last2=Mollan | first2=R. A. B. | year=1989 | title=The orthopaedic consequences of civil disturbance in Northern Ireland | url=http://www.boneandjoint.org.uk/highwire/filestream/14126/field_highwire_article_pdf/0/739.full-text.pdf | journal=The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery | volume=71 | issue=5 | pages=739–744 | doi=10.1302/0301-620X.71B5.2584241 | pmid=2584241 }}
- {{cite web | last=Conroy | first=John |year=1980 | title=Kneecapping | url=http://aliciapatterson.org/stories/kneecapping | publisher=Alicia Patterson Foundation | access-date=8 January 2014 }}
- {{cite journal | last1=Graham | first1=L. E. | last2=Parke | first2=R. C. | year=2004 | title=The Northern Ireland Troubles and limb loss: a retrospective study | journal=Prosthetics and Orthotics International | volume=28 | issue=3 | pages=225–229 | doi=10.3109/03093640409167754 | pmid=15658635 | s2cid=6061030 | doi-access=free }}
- {{cite book | last=Orsini | first=Alessandro | year=2011 | title=Anatomy of the Red Brigades: The Religious Mind-set of Modern Terrorists | publisher=Cornell University Press | others=Translated from Italian by Sarah J. Nodes | isbn=978-0-8014-6139-2 }}
- {{cite journal | last=Williams | first=John | year=1997 | title=Casualties of Violence in Northern Ireland | journal=International Journal of Trauma Nursing | volume=3 | issue=3 | pages=78–82 | doi=10.1016/s1075-4210(97)90033-x| pmid=9295579 }}
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Category:Knee injuries and disorders