Tools of Torture and Repression in South America In Venezuela, violence during mass pro- and anti-government protests between February and July 2014 led to at least 43 deaths and injuries to over 870 people, including protesters, security officials and passers-by.41 The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has stated that while state agents ‘may impose reasonable restraints on demonstrators’, such restraints ‘should protect, rather than discourage, the right to assembly’.42 Furthermore, the IACHR has cited other international standards to support its view that for public use of force to be legitimate, it must be necessary and proportional to the needs of the situation and to the objective sought.43 Finally, the IACtHR has held that ‘the pretext of maintenance of public security cannot be invoked to violate the right to life’, requiring that the use of physical means by the armed forces or security bodies to deal with situations of disturbance of public order be necessary, rational and proportional, and respecting the rights to life and to humane treatment.44 The following equipment types are some of the means most often used by law enforcement officials in situations of public assemblies and have been mentioned in human rights and media reports of alleged human rights violations against protesters. Kinetic impact devices Striking weapons Hand-held kinetic impact striking weapons: Very widely used, devices such as batons, truncheons, sticks and clubs are used to strike an individual to cause or threaten physical pain in order to deter them from an action or cause them to comply. They can be made of wood, plastic, metal or other material and can be short or long (20cm – 2m), telescopic, collapsible or side-handled. While this equipment can legitimately be used for law enforcement purposes, it is widely abused to inflict unnecessary or excessive force in a manner that can easily cause unwarranted injury. For example, when over-arm strikes impact the head or other sensitive areas, there is a risk of brain injury or death. There are reports of striking weapons being used with excessive force against protesters in Argentina,45 Brazil and Paraguay.46 Illustrative country example of excessive use of force with batons against protesters Brazil: Human rights organisations report that batons have been used excessively against peaceful protesters. In one such case, demonstrator Vinicius Duarte sustained a broken jaw, broken nose and lost four teeth after he was repeatedly beaten with batons by two military police officers after taking shelter from tear gas in a Sao Paolo hotel in January 2014.47 A photograph posted by a military police officer on a social networking site in October 2013 caused public outrage. The photograph showing the officer in uniform holding a broken baton 41 Amnesty International, Amnesty International Report 2014/15: The State of the World’s Human Rights, p. 401. 42 Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Report on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders in the Americas (2006), para. 63. 43 Ibid. para. 66. 44 Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Caracazo v Venezuela (Series C No. 95), 2002, para. 127. 45 Human Rights Watch, World Report 2015, pp. 65-66. 46 US Department of State, Paraguay 2014 Human Rights Report, p. 19. 47 Amnesty International, ‘They use a strategy of fear’: Protecting the right to protest in Brazil, 2014, p. 10. 15