Tools of Torture and Repression in South America SECTION V: TRADE CONTROLS V.I SOUTH AMERICAN TRADE CONTROLS ON LAW ENFORCEMENT EQUIPMENT Considering the global nature of the trade in law enforcement equipment and the frequency with which equipment is abused to commit human rights violations, it is important that production and proliferation are strictly controlled in order to mitigate the risk of facilitating torture and other forms of ill-treatment. Any control of the production and trade of law enforcement equipment is typically via legislation on arms and related equipment. However, many types of equipment are frequently omitted from such legislation and manufacture, trade and use of these devices (e.g. restraints, some types of chemical irritants, striking weapons and electric discharge weapons) would therefore not be controlled by states. State-owned manufacturers of law enforcement equipment are often regulated by separate laws, some of which do not clearly set out the process for export approval. In light of these concerns, a detailed study of national legislation would be valuable to identify equipment which is frequently used to facilitate or perpetrate torture or other forms of ill-treatment but which is not sufficiently controlled. This is particularly true given that several states have updated their arms control legislation in recent years. Although national laws governing the import and possession of policing and security equipment by law enforcement officials, private security and civilians are not the focus of this report, their relevance warrants a mention. Such instruments should clearly set out the types of equipment that are prohibited and those that are restricted. The protection of human rights, particularly the right to life and to bodily integrity and the absolute prohibition of torture should be a central concern when creating and implementing controls. In this regard, the possession and use of equipment which has no practical use other than for the purposes of torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment should be prohibited (e.g. thumb cuffs), and strict controls should be placed on equipment which is often abused for such human rights violations or which is unsuitable. V.II CONCERNS REGARDING EXPORT CONTROLS While carrying out the research for this report, information requests were submitted to various government agencies involved in the licensing process for the export of controlled weapons in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Peru. These officials were asked for information on exactly what types of law enforcement require an export license, statistical information on licenses awarded and refused, and information on diversion of law enforcement equipment. The level of response received was poor, with some government bodies failing to respond, while others failed to provide complete answers. Although the Chilean government bodies were more responsive, they informed Omega that national law prevented them from providing information pertaining to licenses awarded or denied for the export, transit or brokering of law enforcement equipment. This sub-section will examine some of the issues Omega considers of particular relevance with regard to export controls in South America, as well as taking a slightly more in-depth look at the export process in Peru. Transparency: The amount of public information regarding the export of law enforcement equipment varies widely across the region. For instance, it is possible to search for Uruguayan export data by category and by company.216 The information includes the total amount of exports per category of 216 Uruguay XXI, ‘Sistema de Información de Exportaciones’ <http://aplicaciones.uruguayxxi.gub.uy/uruguayxxi/inteligencia/sie/> [accessed 1 June 2016]. 49