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Stopping the torture trade the Planning and Evaluation Bureau of the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, Texas, USA, which had the fifth biggest jail population in the USA in 1998, told AI that they did not use the stun belt and did not favour the development of such forms of restraint. He stated that in his experience the use of such devices encourages an over-reliance on them, and the mere fact of their availability increases their usage. 31 He emphasized that the most important factor in the secure movement of potentially dangerous inmates is properly trained staff. Some companies offer training in the use of electro-shock devices as a means to ensure safety, but such training is not available to all potential users. In addition, the human rights content of training courses appears to be weak or non-existent. One US course manual claims that “should an officer misuse or abuse someone with less-than-lethal electronic weaponry, the consequence of error could, at the very worst, be a minor nonpermanent injury.” The cases of abuse cited in this report show how misleading such statements are. There have also been reported fatalities using the various stun devices. On 29 June 2000, prison guards repeatedly used an Ultron II stun gun to restrain a 50-year-old diabetic prisoner, Lawrence James Frazier, in Wallens Ridge State Prison, Virginia, USA. He was in the prison infirmary at the time after being taken there apparently suffering from hypoglycaemia. He died five days later on 4 July. On 13 July the Virginia Department of Corrections said that a “medical study” it had ordered into the death had concluded that the use of the stun gun did not cause the death. On 26 July, the Director of the Virginia Department of Corrections wrote to AI saying that his department had “no intention of suspending use of electroshock weapons. Their safety has been tested in the courts on a number of occasions and they have been found to be safe and humane methods of controlling an inmate who is a threat to himself and others.” However, the “medical study” was carried out by one doctor who had no access to forensic reports and did not examine the body. The report was never made public and the Department of Corrections later admitted that the study was a review of the department’s policies and medical procedures rather than a cause of death report. 31
Stopping the torture trade 32 On 31 July 1996, 16 railway commuters died and 80 others were seriously injured during a mass stampede of people at Tembisa Station in Johannesburg, South Africa. A government appointed committee investigated the tragedy and in August 1996 issued a report which stated that: “The direct and most immediate cause of the disaster at Tembisa Station on 31 July 1996 is the improper and persistent prodding and shocking of commuters with electric batons by private security guards... in a cruel and inhumane manner... the private security guards used the electric shock batons for crowd control purposes when in fact the batons are patently inappropriate for that purpose.” The committee called for such batons to be banned until reliable and independent medical research confirmed that their use would not subject a person to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Nevertheless, the South African government still appears to allow the use and export of electroshock weaponry. The spread of electro-shock technology Electro-shock stun technology was initially developed in the USA during the 1970s. During the 1980s, AI received few reports of trading in or torture using electro-shock weapons. New research for this report shows that the situation has steadily deteriorated in recent years. In the 1980s some 30 companies worldwide were known to be producing or supplying electroshock equipment, but by 2000 the number had risen to more than 130 companies. Of these, significant manufacturers of electro-shock devices are located in the USA, China, Taiwan, and South Korea. There are few restrictions on the use or sale of such weapons in China, Israel, Russia, South Africa, Taiwan or the USA and those restrictions which do exist are routinely flouted. For example in China there are specific restrictions on the “use” of weapons and restraints, including electro-shock batons. However, torture by police using such batons has been widely reported since 1995 and Chinese websites proudly display a range of electro-shock batons.
Page 1 and 2: Torturers are not born, they are nu
Page 3 and 4: Amnesty International (AI) is a wor
Page 5 and 6: First published in 2001 by Amnesty
Page 8 and 9: Muhammad Ali backs the campaign aga
Page 10 and 11: © Ina Tin/AI Cosette Ibrahim, a fo
Page 12 and 13: Stopping the torture trade “Once
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Page 16 and 17: Stopping the torture trade Bangkwan
Page 18 and 19: Diagram of a “tiger bed” or sha
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Page 22 and 23: 3: CHEMICAL CONTROL Tear gas Stoppi
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Page 28 and 29: In June 1999, 2,000 peaceful demons
Page 30 and 31: 4: SHOCKING WEAPONS Stopping the to
Page 32 and 33: © Popperfoto/Reuters Unfortunately
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Page 48 and 49: 5: TORTURE SKILLS Stopping the tort
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Page 56 and 57: 6: AN AGENDA FOR ACTION Stopping th
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Page 60 and 61: Endnotes Stopping the torture trade
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