Grasping the nettle

22 Grasping the nettle: Ending Europe’s Trade in Execution and Torture Technology
Chapter 3 / Mechanisms to
control the provision
of “technical assistance”
In his 2005 report to the Commission on Human Rights, the UN Special Rapporteur on torture
and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment highlighted the need to control
the provision of technical assistance and training that is used to facilitate acts of torture and other
ill-treatment:
“A number of States are important providers of training and assistance to the military, security or
police forces of foreign States. This training and assistance may have the potential to benefit recipient
communities by providing better-skilled military or law enforcement officers who respect the rule
of law and seek to promote and protect the rights of the civilian population. However, unless such
transfers are stringently controlled and independently monitored, there is a danger that they will be
used to facilitate torture and other ill-treatment.” 89
Amnesty International and Omega have discovered a number of EU based companies providing
technical assistance and/or associated training related to security equipment. Whilst such technical
assistance and training can play an important role in facilitating the appropriate use of equipment in
line with human rights standards; if not adequately regulated, there is a danger that the provision of
certain training may promote and legitimise inherently abusive practices.
Illustrative case of concern: provision of training by
Euro Security Products
An example of an EU based company that provides equipment, some of which is controlled by the Regulation,
and delivers training of concern is Euro Security Products. This Czech company manufactures and
supplies electric shock devices, mechanical restraint devices and chemical irritant dispersal devices for law
enforcement, correctional and military personnel as well as civilian use. Euro Security Products also designs
and delivers training for law enforcement and security personnel worldwide. The company has delivered
training to police forces including those in Botswana, Bulgaria, China, D.R. Congo, Georgia, India, Kosovo
(UN), Latvia, Mexico, Nigeria, Spain, Uganda, and Venezuela. 90
Images of the company’s training sessions in a range of countries show students being instructed in different
types of law enforcement equipment including restraint devices and batons. Instruction on the use of
police batons is of particular concern, with students being taught to use the baton in a neck-hold position.
The Council of Europe Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) has previously raised concerns regarding
this technique. For example in its report following a visit to Slovenia in 2012, the CPT reported that:
“Already in the report on the 2006 visit, the CPT expressed its misgivings on the “professional grip of
strangulation,” a technique which involved tackling an agitated or violent prisoner from behind and applying
a baton across his throat with the aim of bringing him under control. During the 2012 visit, prison
staff confirmed to the visiting delegation that they continued to be trained in the use of this technique. The
CPT recommends that the use of techniques involving physical force which may impede airflow through the
respiratory tract be prohibited” 91
The technique described by the CPT appears identical to the one that is regularly taught by Euro Security
Products personnel. It features in a number of the baton training courses shown on their website, examples
of which are illustrated in company photographs reproduced below. 92
89 Report of the UN Special Rapporteur on the question of torture, Theo Van Boven, Commission on Human Rights (E/CN.4/2005/62), 15
December 2004, paragraph 31, http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G05/104/83/PDF/G0510483.pdf?OpenElement (accessed 5
March 2015).
90 See Euro Security Products website, (in particular photo-gallery), http://www.euro-security.info/en/photogallery.html (accessed 14 May
2015) and Training courses ESP, References http://www.euro-security.info/en/training-courses-esp/references.html (accessed 14 May 2015).
91 Report to the Slovenian Government on the visit to Slovenia carried out by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and
Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) from 31 January to 6 February 2012, CPT/Inf (2013) 16, Strasbourg, 19 July 2013.
92 DR Congo training: http://www.euro-security.info/en/2013-10-04-08-19-35/batons-photogallery/police-photogallery/congo.html, China
Training: http://www.euro-security.info/en/2013-10-04-08-19-35/batons-photogallery/police-photogallery/china.html, India: http://www.
Amnesty International May 2015 Index: EUR 01/1632/2015