3. Body-worn electric shock devices A range of electric shock devices have been developed, manufactured, promoted and employed which are intended for attachment directly to prisoners’ bodies. These devices which include electric shock ‘stun belts’ and ‘stun cuffs’ - are most commonly marketed as a tool to prevent escape or injury to others during prisoner transfers, work details, or trials. They are worn, sometimes for hours at a time, with the constant threat that they can be remotely activated at any moment. Despite differences in design, they are all functionally similar, and are designed to deliver an electric shock when activated by a remote control. Voltage, length of shock, number of possible repeated shocks, and remote control range, vary between models. On activation, a typical electric-shock belt delivers a shock of 50,000 volts. Such devices generate a high voltage ‘pulse current’ that enters the prisoner’s body at the site of the electrodes, and passes through the body. Activation of shock belts and other body-worn devices causes severe pain for the duration of the shock, leading to temporary incapacitation. Other physical effects include muscular weakness, involuntary urination and/or defecation, heartbeat irregularities, seizures, and welts on the skin,97 as well as the risk of secondary injuries caused by falls after activation. Furthermore, use of such equipment on individuals with underlying health issues (such as, inter alia, congenital heart defects, epilepsy), or on those using psychotropic medications could cause heart attacks, ventricular fibrillation, or death.98 In addition to such physical effects, the continued possibility the device could be activated also causes the wearer a great deal of mental suffering. Consequently, the use of body-worn electric shock devices has been internationally condemned as unacceptable by a number of torture prevention bodies. The UN Committee against Torture recommended that electric shock ‘stun belts’ should be abolished (in the United States) as a method of restraining those in custody, pointing out that “their use almost invariably leads to breaches of [the prohibition of ill-treatment]”.99 Similarly, the CPT opposes “the use of electric stun belts for controlling the movement of detained persons, whether inside or outside places of deprivation of liberty. Such equipment is inherently degrading for the person to whom it is applied, and the scope for misuse is particularly high”.100 3.1. Manufacture, promotion and/or transfer of body-worn electric shock devices Under EC Regulation 1236/2005“electric-shock devices which are intended to be worn on the body by a restrained individual, such as belts, sleeves and cuffs, designed for restraining human beings by the administration of electric shocks having a no-load voltage exceeding 10 000 V” are considered to be devices which have “no practical use other than for the purpose of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”101. The import of such devices into the EU or their export from the EU is prohibited. Regulation (EU) 2016/2134 of the European Parliament and of the Council was introduced in 23 November 2016 and came into force on 16 December 2016. It is directly legally binding on all EU Yoon, P. The “Stunning” Truth: Stun Belts Debilitate, They Prejudice, and They May Even Kill, Capital Defense Journal, volume 15, issue 2, 3-1-2003. 98 Dahlberg, S The React Security Belt: Stunning Prisoners and Human Rights Groups into Questioning Whether its Use is Permissible Under the United States and Texas Constitutions, 30 St. Mary's L.J. 239, 1998. 99 UN, Committee against Torture, Report of the Committee against Torture, A/55/44, 2000, paragraph 180. 100 CPT, 20th General Report, CPT/Inf(2010)28, 26 October 2010, paragraph 74. 101 See Annex II of the EC Trade Regulation 1236/2005, as amended, http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legalcontent/EN/TXT/?qid=1398468874828&uri=CELEX:02005R1236-20130701 (accessed 17 January 2018). 97 24