CROWD CONTROL TECHNOLOGIES - Omega Research Foundation

3. LEGISLATION AT INTERNATIONAL, EU AND NATIONAL LEVELS.
Existing international, EU and national legislation was not specifically designed to accommodate
modern crowd control weapons, some future developments of which may have the potential to
undermine international treaties. If crowd control weapons are not to be used in ways which go beyond
the limits of the law, it is important to identify which specific national and international laws currently
apply and to treat their legality within existing legislation. 56
At present, such legislation covers the different dimensions of weapons usage. These include the
manner in which the weapons are deployed, the intrinsic effects of particular weapons on both the
human body and psyche and whether rules of engagement have been implemented in practice.
Such considerations cover the notion of minimum force, proportionality, discriminate use and any codes
of conduct in regard to specific technologies. More general EU and national legislation covering health
and safety, the sale of goods in relation to quality control and the adherence to technical standards are
also pertinent.
There are many different levels of potential control that need to be considered in this context. For
example, there are general laws governing specific rights which can be undermined by the deployment
of inappropriate crowd control apparatus and public order policing tactics. Such legislation includes the
1948 UN Declaration of Human Rights 57 ; the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights(1976);
the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights(1976) 58 and the European
Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental freedoms(1950) and more recently,
the provisions of the Treaty of Amsterdam which refers to implementing areas of Freedom, Security
and Justice. In theory, this legislation should protect the right to life and the right of assembly.
However, the exercise of these rights will be undermined if lethal or sub-lethal crowd control weapons
are deployed against those citizens who exercise them.
Therefore four legal elements need to be considered, namely: (i) the alleged harmlessness of the
weapons technology; (ii) whether they are discriminate or indiscriminate (i.e. affecting anyone in a
control zone whether innocent or guilty of any public order crimes or misdemeanours); (iii) codes of
conduct governing minimum force and correct adherence by law enforcement personnel to approved
rules of engagement and appropriate usage of the particular weapons and (iv) appropriate
accountability procedures where code of conducts or guidelines are breached. Such matters are also
reflected in the obligations of law enforcement personnel under the UN Code of Conduct for Law
Enforcement officers. 59
A key issue is whether case law in each state suggests that any abuse of these technologies will
result in a successful prosecution. Many states pay lip service to rules of minimum force but even
where very good evidence exists that these weapons have been abused, few prosecutions result and
the perception of immunity of state law enforcement officers from prosecution for human rights
violations persists. 60 Some 'non lethal' weapons (such as electroshock and stun technology) ostensibly
designed for crowd control, have intrinsic features such as the facility to inflict excruciating pain without
leaving tell tale marks, which make them useful instruments for torture. Crowd control weapons on the
horizon which create paralysis, immobility, the removal of certain brain and hearing functions, the
induction of vomiting or involuntary defecation have similar potential utility for implementing gross
human rights violations, including mass rape or summary street executions.
3.1 Proposed EU Ban on Weapons Directly Interfering With Brain Functioning. The European
Parliament has already approved a resolution in January 1999 which called for )an international
convention for a global ban on all research and development, whether military or civilian, which seeks
to apply knowledge of the chemical, electrical, sound vibration or other functioning of the human brain
to the development of weapons which might enable the manipulation of human beings, including a ban
on any actual or possible deployment of such systems.( 61
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