legitimate role in law enforcement. However since 2012, the CPT, Amnesty International and other human rights monitors documented the inappropriate or abusive employment of kinetic impact weapons in at least 30 CoE member States. Omega has identified companies throughout the CoE that have manufactured or promoted striking weapons or launched kinetic impact weapons and projectiles. Omega has also discovered the marketing, within the CoE region, of a range of Asian produced inherently abusive spiked kinetic impact devices such as spiked batons, spiked shields and spiked assaultive arm armour intended for use by police and security forces. Riot control agents: Omega has identified companies throughout the CoE region that have manufactured and/or promoted riot control agents (RCAs) – tear gas and pepper spray – or associated delivery devices. Although RCAs are commonly employed for legitimate law enforcement purposes, they have been misused, including in prison cells and detention centres, and during large scale policing of public assemblies, in at least 12 CoE member States since 2012. Training & technical assistance: Professional training of police and prison officers in the appropriate and safe use of security equipment can reinforce and operationalise human rights standards and good practice. However, Omega has uncovered the provision to CoE member State and foreign police and military personnel of training in potentially abusive techniques, such as hog-tying and employment of batons in neck-holds, conducted by security experts based in the CoE region. Developing effective CoE measures to tackle the trade in tools of torture On 26th January 2018 the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) unanimously adopted Recommendation 2123 (2018) calling on CoE member States and relevant CoE bodies to enact a comprehensive package of measures to combat the trade in goods used for torture and the death penalty. The PACE Recommendation provides a strong framework on which the Committee of Ministers can now build, introducing effective CoEwide measures to address the trade in tools of torture. Failure of CoE States to address this trade poses a great threat to human rights in Europe and around the world. In order to ensure that CoE measures are effective and consistently implemented, the Omega Research Foundation recommends that the Committee of Ministers should:  Call on all CoE member States to introduce regulations establishing national control systems for the trade in goods used for the death penalty, torture or other ill-treatment. Such regulations should, firstly, prohibit trade in all goods which have no practical use other than for the death penalty, torture or other ill-treatment. Secondly, such regulations should require prior authorisation for the transfer of goods designed for legitimate law enforcement use but which could be misused for torture or other illtreatment; with such authorisation to be withheld when there are reasonable grounds for believing that goods might be employed for capital punishment, torture or other ill-treatment by the end-user.  Issue a recommendation to member States setting out technical guidance on how to establish and implement an effective regulatory regime facilitating harmonised national systems amongst all CoE member States.  Establish a follow up process to assess the progress by CoE member States in implementing the Committee of Ministers recommendations on this issue. 6