Grasping the nettle

Grasping the nettle: Ending Europe’s Trade in Execution and Torture Technology 39
nature of its application – employing force to an individual’s wrists with possible twisting movement
– raises concerns about the attendant risks of injury and also potential misuse that could amount
to torture or other ill-treatment. Clemen & Jung promotes these devices through their website and
recently displayed and has promoted them on their stall at the IWA security equipment exhibition
held in Nuremberg in March 2015.
On 17 April 2015 Amnesty International and Omega wrote to Clemen & Jung informing them of
the forthcoming report and requesting further information on their products and activities. On 22
April 2015 the Clemen & Jung website was updated. Changes to the website included the transfer
of “Detainee/Prisoner Control Pliers” to the “history and retro-section” of the website designed for
products intended for “collectors and law enforcement museums.”
Left: “Detainee/Prisoner Control
Pliers” from Clemen and
Jung catalogue and Right: on
display on Clemen and Jung
stall at IWA 2015 security
exhibition held in Nuremburg
On 30 April 2015, in response to the information request from Amnesty International and Omega
the company stated that, “Clemen & Jung manufactures no goods which are subject to Annex II of
the EU Council Regulation No.1236/2005.” The company further stated that those “few Clemen &
Jung goods” which could be considered as Annex III items, “are only ever exported out of the EU by
Clemen & Jung after the proper authorization has been received from BAFA.”
Amnesty International and Omega Recommendation: At present the “Detainee/Prisoner Control
Pliers” and functionally similar devices are not listed under Annex II or Annex III of the Regulation
and consequently the trade in such devices is neither prohibited nor controlled by this instrument.
Given the nature of their application and the attendant risks of injury, and their potential use in illtreatment,
Amnesty International and Omega believe that such devices should be added to Annex II
and their trade prohibited.
Equipment that should be controlled under the Regulation
Handcuffs
Rule 33 of the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners states: “Instruments
of restraint, such as handcuffs, chains, irons and strait-jacket, shall never be applied as
a punishment.” 155 [Emphasis added]. Rule 34 states that instruments of restraint “must not be
applied for any longer time than is strictly necessary.” 156 Furthermore, Rule 68 of the European
Prison Rules constrains the use of handcuffs. 157
Handcuffs and other restraints can be designed and used legitimately in accordance with international
standards, that is, used in a manner that is not painful, when absolutely necessary for a legitimate
purpose and proportionately to the danger posed, and for the shortest duration possible, for
instance to stop prisoners harming themselves or others, and to prevent escape when being moved.
However, international and regional human rights mechanisms have documented the misuse
of handcuffs for shackling prisoners to fixed objects, 158 as well as their employment for abusive
155 United Nations, Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (SMRTP) Adopted by the First United Nations Congress on
the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, held at Geneva in 1955, and approved by the Economic and Social Council by its
resolutions 663 C (XXIV) of 31 July 1957 and 2076 (LXII) of 13 May 1977, Article 33.
156 United Nations, SMRTP (1955) op.cit. Rule 34.
157 Recommendation on the Committee of Ministers to Member States on the European Prison Rules, Adopted by Committee of Ministers
on 11th January 2006 at 952nd meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies.
158 “Further, in IVS No. 1 in Kazan, the delegation noted the occasional use of handcuffs fixed to the wall (in front of the facility’s duty
Index: EUR 01/1632/2015 Amnesty International May 2015