I think "torture" may be a little extreme. Are threats, beatings & lashings to the feet & hands considered torture?
I mean, definitely not desirable or anything, but I always understood torture to refer to the much more extreme. Otherwise we conclude schoolyard bullies, police, and schoolteachers regularly engage in torture, though schoolteachers have mostly ceased using canes for lashing.
Prolonged beating of the soles of the feet, or phalanga as it is sometimes called, is definitely torture. It has a rich history. It is extremely painful, primarily because of the abundance of nerve endings in the sole of ones feet. It takes a long time to heal so the punishment effectively gets extended over a long period of time, possibly permanent.
A friend of mine was in an orphanage in MX when he was a child. He suffered from extended beatings on his soles (among other things like cigarette burns and the like). I don't know if it's true, but he says he can't feel absolutely nothing with his soles (ie No pain).
So yes, this is definitely torture, with permanent consequences.
According to the UN, torture is "... any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person ...".
I mean, definitely not desirable or anything, but I always understood torture to refer to the much more extreme. Otherwise we conclude schoolyard bullies, police, and schoolteachers regularly engage in torture, though schoolteachers have mostly ceased using canes for lashing.