or that can facilitate torture and ill-treatment. One could interpret this to mean that South Africa is not adhering to its own aspirations with respect to human rights and the dignity of all (including inmates and detainees awaiting trial), as articulated in its Constitution, relevant domestic laws, or in terms of the commitments it has made under international agreements. What is clearly needed is a prohibition on law-enforcement equipment that has no practical purpose other than for the purpose of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. The manufacture of such devices in South Africa and their export from South Africa should also be prohibited. Other types of law-enforcement equipment that may have a legitimate law-enforcement function but which are prone to misuse should either be prohibited, or regulated and controlled, to prevent human-rights violations. The manufacture of such devices in South Africa and their export should either not be allowed, or they should be highly controlled in the same way that other sensitive material is regulated and controlled (such as the trade in conventional arms, including firearms, and material relating to nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, their specific means of delivery and associated dual-use items). According to the South African government’s general nonproliferation policy: ... it is South Africa’s declared national interest in conjunction with its international obligations and commitments, particularly as these relate to nonproliferation, disarmament and arms control, and the implementation of international humanitarian law, to exercise due restraint in the transfer and trade in weapons and related materials, equipment, technology and services.33 Although there are no trade controls over electric shock devices in South Africa, certain other countries do prohibit their trade. The EU prohibits all trade in body-worn electric shock equipment and restricts the sale of other electric shock devices. In 2005 the EU introduced Council Regulation (EC) 1236/2005 (the ‘Torture Regulation’), which concerns ‘trade in certain goods which could be used for capital punishment, torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment’. Articles 3 and 4 of the European Commission Torture Regulation prohibit both the import and export of ‘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’.34 The UK has introduced stronger controls, which additionally prohibit the brokering of body-worn electric shock devices, encompassing the provision of trade-related services, such as marketing, transportation, insurance and financing.35 Although there are no trade controls over electric shock devices in South Africa, certain other countries do prohibit their trade Articles 5 and 6 of the EC Torture Regulation also stipulate export controls over ‘portable electric shock devices, including but not limited to, electric shock batons, electric shock shields, stun guns and electric shock dart guns’. Export permits are not to be granted where these devices ‘might be used for torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, including judicial corporal punishment [or] by a law enforcement authority’. EU member states maintain the right to prohibit the import and export of hand-held electric shock devices altogether. The EC Torture Regulation is legally binding on all 28 EU member states. Under Section 6 of the Export Administration Act of 1979 (as amended),36 the US controls through ECCN (or Export Control Classification Number) 0A982 of the Commerce Control List the trade in ‘law enforcement restraint devices, including ... stun cuffs; shock belts; shock sleeves’.37 With this law, body-worn electric shock equipment is controlled in the US alongside items such as leg irons, shackles, handcuffs and straitjackets. Under ECCN 0A985 of the same Act, other electric shock devices are similarly controlled. These include ‘discharge type arms and devices to administer electric shock, for example, stun guns, shock batons, shock shields’. For devices that fall under 0A982 and 0A985, a licence for export is required for all destinations, except Canada, regardless of their intended use. POLICY BRIEF 84 • JUNE 2016 5