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For Immediate
Release: Contact: Alistair Hodgett
December 2, 2003 (202) 544-0200 x 302 Amnesty International Report: US Exports $20 million of Shackles, Electro-Shock Technology Expanding Global Trade Supplies States US Condemned for Torture (Washington, DC) – A new Amnesty International report charges that in 2002, the Bush Administration violated the spirit of its own export policy and approved the sale of equipment implicated in torture to Yemen, Jordan, Morocco and Thailand, despite the countries' documented use of such weapons to punish, mistreat and inflict torture on prisoners. The US is also alleged to have handed suspects in the 'war on terror' to the same countries. The total value of US exports of electro-shock weapons was $14.7 million in 2002 and exports of restraints totaled $4.4 million in the same period. The Commerce and State Departments approved these sales, permitting 45 countries to purchase electro-shock technology, including 19 that had been cited for the use of such weapons to inflict torture since 1990. The report – The Pain Merchants – also reveals that the US approved the 2002 export to Saudi Arabia of nine tons of Smith & Wesson leg-irons. Former prisoners in Saudi Arabia have stated that their restraints were stamped with the name of Smith & Wesson. In a 2000 Amnesty International report, Phil Lomax, a UK national who was held for 17 days in 1999, recounted how shackles used in Malaz prison in Riyadh, were made in the US: "When[ever] we were taken out of the cell we were shackled and handcuffed. The shackles were very painful. They were made of steel... like a handcuff ring. The handcuffs were made in the USA." "Although torture is endemic in Saudi Arabia, Smith and Wesson had no qualms about exporting approximately 10,000 leg-irons to Riyadh, and apparently sharing this lack of concern, the Bush Administration approved the sale," said Dr. William F. Schulz, Executive Director of Amnesty International USA (AIUSA). "For decades, human rights groups and the US State Department have documented Saudi Arabia's cruel use of leg-irons and shackles to inflict torture and force confessions. With this shameful shipment, we can expect the torture of religious minorities and peaceful protestors to continue for years to come." Amnesty International acknowledges that the US government made several positive changes in recent years, including creating an excellent export policy predicated on human rights standards that created well-defined export categories and required export licenses for electro-shock equipment to all countries except Canada. However, Amnesty International is alarmed that the policy is being improperly implemented. In particular, the policy has not prevented the approval of exports even when there is a significant risk of their use for torture in the destination country. In 2001, the US approved three sales of electro-shock weapons to Turkey, despite continued widespread use of such technology to torture. In a 2002 case, a 17-year-old schoolgirl who had been detained for distributing leaflets calling for Kurdish education was stripped, threatened with rape and tortured with electric shocks to her feet, legs and stomach. "The US needs to completely close the loopholes that have allowed the re-supply of this technology to countries that torture," said Maureen Greenwood, AIUSA's Advocacy Director for Europe. "Representatives Tom Lantos (D-CA) and Henry Hyde (R-IL) have worked to codify in law greater oversight of torture equipment exports, and are currently working on legislation that places restrictions on crime control exports to foreign governments that have a record of repeatedly engaging in acts of torture. The administration should give this legislation its unqualified support." Worldwide, there are now at least 856 companies in 47 countries involved in the manufacture or marketing of electro-shock technology, restraints and chemical irritants that are prone to be used to torture. A 2001 survey by Amnesty International found more than 80 such firms – 1 in 10 – were in the United States. The number of manufacturers of electro-shock technology has more than doubled since 1997, when Amnesty International documented 20 such firms. For the period 1999-2003, Amnesty International found at least 59 manufacturers of electro-shock weapons in 12 countries, including 8 firms in the US. For the same period, Amnesty International found 21 manufacturers of leg cuffs, leg-irons and shackles in 11 countries, of which six were US companies. THE PAIN MERCHANTS Security equipment and its use in torture and other ill-treatment - 30 - The
Mulindwas Communication Group
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