Omega Research Foundation of this knowledge gap, trade control officials fail to prevent transfers that facilitate torture, and law enforcement agencies operate with inappropriate technology, training, and guidelines. Human rights monitors, rehabilitation organisations, and civil society also often lack the evidence necessary to hold those complicit in torture to account, and to prevent future occurrences. This Guide is a response to this gap, presenting an overview of the different types of weapons and equipment currently used by law enforcement and security personnel (referred to in this Guide as law enforcement officers) around the world, and highlights the human rights issues surrounding their use. It is a practical tool to enable policy makers, human rights monitors, and journalists to recognise the equipment as well as highlight and question its use. In this Guide, there is a focus on specialist law enforcement and security weapons and equipment. Nonetheless, improvised, ad-hoc or personal equipment, such as sticks, shoes, and rope, are also used by law enforcement officers for torture and other ill-treatment. It is important to document, investigate, and highlight any instances of torture or other ill-treatment. The Guide links specialist law enforcement weapons and equipment to relevant international regulations and to the international bodies that have made specific recommendations or raised concerns over use of this type of equipment. Key international regulations are referenced throughout. These include: Guidelines governing the treatment of people deprived of their liberty: The United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (Nelson Mandela Rules) 10 are concerned with all aspects of incarceration, including how instruments and methods of restraint should be used in places of detention. Rule 47 states that “inherently degrading or painful” restraints are should be prohibited, and that “other instruments of restraint” should only be used in certain proscribed circumstances, such as to prevent escape during transfer, to prevent a prisoner injuring themselves or others, or to prevent them from damaging property. Rule 48 is concerned with the type and duration of the restraint, stating that the method used should be the least intrusive available and that the instruments of restraint should only be used for the time period required and removed as soon as possible. The United Nations Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty (Havana Rules) 11 contain safeguards on the treatment of young people in places of detention. Rule 64 refers to the use of equipment, and states that restraints can only be used in exceptional circumstances, and never to cause humiliation or degradation. Rule 65 prohibits the carrying and use of weapons by personnel in any facility where juveniles are detained. Rule 24, of The United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders (Bangkok Rules) 12, states that restraints should not be used on women during labour, birth, or immediately after birth. UN General Assembly, UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (Nelson Mandela Rules): resolution / adopted by the General Assembly, 8 January 2016, A/RES/70/175. 10 UN General Assembly, UN Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of Their Liberty (Havana Rules): resolution / adopted by the General Assembly, 2 April 1991, A/RES/45/113, Rules 64 and 65. 11 UN General Assembly, UN Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-Custodial Measures for Women Offenders (Bangkok Rules): note / by the Secretariat, 6 October 2010, A/C.3/65/L. 12 3