Tools of Torture and Repression in South America Argentina: According to official statistics, kinetic impact projectiles were used in 13% (67 cases) of the cases of torture or ill-treatment registered in places of detention under federal jurisdiction in 2014.114 The SPT identifies firing rubber bullets directly at prisoners from close range in response to disturbances as a recurrent and systematic problem.115 Regular prison staff should not be equipped with firearms. Instead, a special emergency taskforce should be set up, which should not be stationed within the prison. It would be authorised to act only in situations of extreme violence which cannot be safely contained by less extreme means. Emergency taskforces should receive rigorous training on the use of an exclusive list of equipment set out in their rules of operation and any use of firearms should be in accordance with the protect life principle. Recommendations   The use of kinetic impact projectiles should be strictly limited to situations of violent disorder posing a risk of harm to persons, where the projectiles are used in order to contain and stop the violence and only when less extreme means are insufficient to achieve this objective. Although Omega recommends that ammunition firing multiple projectiles be prohibited for all law enforcement purposes, its use in confined spaces is particularly dangerous and should be avoided at all cost. Chemical irritants Cases of abuse of chemical irritants against those deprived of their liberty have been reported in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia,116 Ecuador117 and Venezuela.118 Chemical irritants delivered by means of aerosol spray and weapon-fired projectiles have been used in cases of torture and other forms of ill-treatment. Illustrative country examples of torture and ill-treatment with chemical irritants Bolivia: The National Ombudsperson’s Office received 3,784 complaints of torture or illtreatment between 2007 and 2012.119 The spraying of tear gas is one of the most common methods used to extract confessions and other information related to criminal investigations.120 Argentina: The Federal Ombudsman reports that tear gas and pepper spray were used in 17% (91 cases) of registered cases of torture or ill-treatment in 2014. Pepper spray has been sprayed directly into the eyes of detainees during prison inspections121 and into vehicles used 114 Procuración Penitenciaria de la nación, La Situación de los Derechos Humanos en las Cárceles Federales de la Argentina: Informe Anual 2014, p. 66. 115 UN SPT, Report of the visit of the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment to Argentina, 27 November 2013, UN Doc. CAT/OP/ARG/1, para. 81. 116 Coalición Colombiana Contra la Tortura, Situación de la Tortura en Colombia, 2014, p. 11. 117 ACAT, A World of Torture, 2013, p. 50. 118 Observatorio Venezolano de Prisiones, Informe Annual 2013, p. 35. 119 Office of the Human Rights Ombudsperson of the Plurinational State of Bolivia, note 62, p. 3. 120 ACAT, A World of Torture, 2013, p. 39. 121 Procuración Penitenciaria de la Nación, La Situación de los Derechos Humanos en las Cárceles Federales de la Argentina: Informe Anual 2014, p. 64. 29