• Chemical irritants (also referred to as ‘tear gases’, or
‘riot control agents’), which are designed to temporarily
deter or disable by producing sensory irritation of the
eyes and upper respiratory tract, with these effects
intended to disappear within a short time following
termination of exposure. A number of chemicals are
used, most commonly CS, OC/Pepper and PAVA.
They can be delivered in a variety of ways, including
via hand-held sprays, larger ‘back-pack’ style sprays,
grenades and projectiles that are fired from launchers,
and fixed position dispensers which deliver irritants
into a set area.
• Instruments of restraints, defined by the APT and PRI (2015) as
external mechanical devices designed to restrict or immobilise
the movement of a person’s body, in whole or in part. They
can vary according to which parts of the body, and how many
parts of the body, they are designed to restrain, the material
they are made out of, and other design features.
• Chemical restraints, defined by the CPT (2017: 2) as the
‘forcible administration of medication for the purpose of
controlling a patient’s behaviour’.
Having given a brief overview of the different types of equipment,
the document now details areas that monitors may wish to consider:
• Prior to the use of these weapons and / or restraints. For example,
how should the weapons and restraints be stored and kept?
What regulations and training should be established?
• Standards and thresholds for use. What clauses should policies
and procedures contain? When might it be appropriate to use
different types of equipment, under what circumstances and
with what limits?
Section 2.1: Considerations Prior to Use
Section 2.1.1: Storage, Issuing and Stock Management
procedures
Firearms.
The United Nations Programme of Action to Prevent, Combat and
Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All
Its Aspects (Section 2, para 17) states that signatories undertake
to ensure that any ‘body authorized to hold small arms and light
weapons establish adequate and detailed standards and procedures
relating to the management and security of their stocks of these
weapons’. These principles are reinforced by the Basic Principles,
which state that regulations should ‘regulate the control, storage
and issuing of firearms, including procedures for ensuring that …
officials are accountable for the firearms and ammunition issued
to them’ (para 11d).
The UN Co-ordinating Action on Small Arms (2012, henceforth
referred to as the UN Co-ordinating Action) deals with the issue of
firearms storage specifically, recommending that ‘physical security
of weapons… should be achieved by the use of an armoury, a
secure room or… a secure cabinet’. It also recommends that ‘risk
assessments of all facilities in which small arms and light weapons
are stockpiled shall be carried out…(and) renewed’ as required. It
further stresses, amongst other issues, the need to regularly check
the stocks of firearms that are being held in the secure facility, and
the importance of reporting, and independently investigating, any
losses that may occur. It recommends that the quantity and type
of weapons is checked every day (in the case of places holding a
small number of weapons), that a check against the serial number
is conducted on at least 10% of the weapons every week, and that
all stock is checked every six months, and whenever the custody of
keys is permanently transferred between an in-coming and outgoing
key custodian. The UN Co-ordinating Action also stresses the
importance of effective record keeping, noting that there should
be a register documenting the removal of firearms, and that ‘only
authorized officials shall remove small arms and light weapons
from storage areas’.
• Post-incident: what action should officials take after the use
of the weapons and / or restraints? What reporting should
be done, when and how? What accountability mechanisms
should be in place?
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