24 can be severe and life-threatening. Other injuries arising from the use of projectile electric shock weapons can include burns, puncture wounds, and scars or welts. These weapons cause different degrees of pain and incapacitation, and can occasionally lead to death. The effects vary depending on the power of the device, the physical condition and underlying health of the person targeted (e.g., a child or a person with a heart condition) and environmental factors (e.g., moisture). The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) has recommended that police avoid using electric shock weapons on “particularly vulnerable persons (e.g., the elderly, pregnant women, young children, persons with a pre-existing heart condition)”, as well as people who are delirious or intoxicated.34 Examples of inappropriate use include sustained or prolonged use, multiple shocks and shocks to inappropriate or sensitive areas of the body such, as the head, chest and genitals. Additional risks are presented in a crowd-control setting, such as the danger of causing a stampede, the risk of hitting individuals other than the target, and the difficulty in ensuring individuals suffering adverse consequences receive timely medical assistance. According to the CPT, “the resort to [electrical discharge weapons] during crowd-control operations can be considered inappropriate unless there is a real and immediate threat to life or risk of serious injury. The law enforcement officials involved will (or should) have at their disposal other means of protection and action that are specifically adapted to the task in hand. It is noteworthy that some police forces in Europe have excluded the use of EDW in the course of operations to control public demonstrations.”35 The CPT has emphasized that “recourse to the use of [electrical discharge weapons] for the sole purpose of securing compliance with an order is inadmissible”.36 The UN Committee against Torture has recommended that “the use of electrical discharge weapons is strictly compliant with the principles of necessity, subsidiarity, proportionality, advance warning (where feasible) and precaution”, while also stating 34 35 36 Council of Europe, European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT), “Electrical Discharge Weapons”, Extract from the 20th General Report of the CPT, published in 2010, CPT/Inf(2010)28-part, para. 79, <https://rm.coe.int/1680696a87>. CPT, “Electrical Discharge Weapons”, op. cit., note 33, para. 73. Ibid., para 70.