DEVICES AUTHORIZED FOR USE 15 fire rounds are designed to be fired at the ground in front of an individual (and then rebound into them). Launched kinetic-impact weapons are not designed to penetrate, but to cause blunt trauma; their desired effect is to elicit compliance through pain. An issue that has received increasing attention is the use of metal ‘birdshot’ ammunition by law-enforcement personnel, in particular being deployed in the Middle East.26 This ammunition has a high chance of causing penetrative injuries. While the use of bird shot or other hunting ammunition in the Central Asian or South Caucasus region by law-enforcement personnel does not appear to have been documented, international companies who manufacture ammunition that can be used either for hunting or for law-enforcement/tactical purposes are known to be operating. Launched kinetic-impact projectiles are designed to be used to target individuals as well groups of people. However, they are often inaccurate, increasing the chances of innocent bystanders being affected and of severe injury or death of the target or a bystander. As previously mentioned, handheld kinetic impact weapons are one of the most commonly issued pieces of equipment for law-enforcement personnel; even when departments are incredibly resource-poor, they are more than likely to be equipped with batons.27 It is very difficult to identify one manufacturer’s baton from another and therefore it is very difficult to track their trade. Similarly, it is difficult to distinguish between launched kinetic-impact projectiles, such as rubber balls, when ammunitions casings are unavailable.28 Nevertheless, one manufacturer’s launched projectiles (the FN303, originally manufactured in Belgium by FN Herstal) are very recognizable and have been photographed in use in Georgia and Turkey, and projectiles have been collected in both states.29 Using compressed air to launch specially designed 18-mm plastic projectiles, the FN303 can fire impact, impact and irritant, or impact and dye-marking projectiles.30 26 See e.g. the 2012 Human Rights Watch Report on Tunisia <http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/12/01/tunisia-riot-police-fire-birdshot-protesters> or reports from Bahrain on ammunition use by the security forces, <https://bahrainwatch.org/press/press-release-4.php>, <http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/14/us-bahrain-protests-idUSBRE97D08520130814>. 27
See e.g. the WikiLeak cable detailing a meeting between a US Regional Security Officer, the Minister of Interior of Tajikistan and the Commander of the new Special Forces Battalion (‘SpetzNaz’), <http://www.wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/08DUSHANBE1098_a.html>.
28
See e.g. image from Tbilisi in 2007 uploaded to Flickr, <http://www.flickr.com/ photos/barrygeo/1905006427/in/photostream>.
29 Belousova, S., ‘Georgian Special Police Forces’, 7 Nov. 2007, Getty Images, <http://www. gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/georgian-special-police-forcesuse-tear-gas-to-disperse-newsphoto/77761877>; Kilic, B., ‘A masked Turkish protester gestures’, 4 Oct. 2009, Getty Images, <http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/masked-turkish-protestor-gestures-in-front-of-turkishriot-news-photo/91397397>; ‘Police deny firing projectiles at protesters’, Civil.ge, 8 May 2009, <http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=20875&search=police%20deny%20firingI>; and ‘Timeline: police intervention in Taksim Square’, BIA News Desk, 11 June 2013, <http://www.bianet.org/english/crisis/147454-police-intervention-in-taksim-square>.
30
See the FN Herstal website, <http://www.fnherstal.com/primary-menu/products-capabilities/lesslethal/general/product/255/254/255/3/_/fn-303R.html>.