Amnesty International called for a global legally binding treaty to regulate the production of electric shock equipment, in a report published on Thursday. The report documents the widespread practice of the use of electric shock for torture and other forms of ill-treatment, violating international human rights law.
The new report documents how law enforcement agencies worldwide use legal electric shoсk devices, such as stun guns and tasers, for torture and other cruel treatment of vulnerable groups in places of detention, mental health institutions, borders and during protests.
According to the group, the devices which inflict pain through direct contact with electric current are widely misused against protesters, human rights activists, opposition, women and children. The misuse often causes severe injuries, such as burns, numbness, miscarriages, sleep disturbances, exhaustion, psychological traumas and in some cases death. To protect marginalized communities effectively, the group called on authorities to record data disaggregated by age, gender, ethnic background and vulnerabilities to identify potential discriminatory uses and disproportionate harm.
The group called on authorities to use projectile electric shock weapons (PESWs) proportionately. The group contends that its use should be limited to situations where a threat to life or risk of serious injury cannot be contained by less intrusive means. The group maintained that it should never be used to police protests and in detention sites or mental asylums.
As reported by the organization, not less than 197 companies, mostly based in China, India, and the US, produce or promote direct contact electric shock equipment used by law enforcement.
Patrick Wilcken, Amnesty International’s researcher on military, security and policing issues, stated that producers should implement thorough human rights screening and harm reduction strategies, including halting the production of close-range electrical equipment and “removing the ‘drive stun’ function from PESWs.” He also said that “there is an urgent need for a legally-binding treaty which would prohibit inherently abusive electric shock equipment and strictly control the trade in PESWs.”
The Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, an international human rights treaty, establishes that each state shall take effective measures to prevent acts of torture as well as that an order from a superior officer or a public authority may not be invoked as a justification of torture. There are currently no global legal instruments to regulate the production, trade and use of electric shock devices.
