Standards on the Use of Force and Firearms. Such devices should not be used in a prison or places of detention or against children or pregnant women. Furthermore the use of such weapons in the “drive stun” mode (i.e. as direct contact electric shock weapons) should be prohibited. 2.2. Kinetic Impact Weapons 2.2.1. Hand held kinetic impact weapons Hand-held kinetic impact weapons (also known as striking weapons) include batons and other clubs. They are usually made of rubber, wood, plastic or metal and can be short or long (20cm – 2m), telescopic, collapsible or side-handled. They are one of the most common less lethal weapons with which law enforcement officers are equipped. Hand-held kinetic impact weapons are used by law enforcement officials to strike a subject to cause physical pain or to threaten physical pain in order to force them to comply or to deter them from an action. They can also be used defensively by law enforcement officials e.g. to protect from blows from assailants. Such weapons are widely employed by law enforcement officials notably in public order policing and also in places of detention. If employed in conformity with international human rights standards and use of force guidelines, certain types of such weapons can have a legitimate role in law enforcement. However human rights organisations have regularly documented their abuse to inflict unnecessary or excessive force through beating– which has included their employment in ill-treatment and torture - and in certain cases this has resulted in serious injury or death. Ukraine: Human Rights Watch have documented the unnecessary and excessive use of batons by Ukrainian riot police against peaceful protesters in Kiev on 30 November and 1 December 2013.xxiv Police allegedly beat protesters who had already fallen on the ground, people who were trying to shield others and people trying to flee, leading to injuries including broken ribs, a broken wrist, bruising and cuts.xxv Police also reportedly struck protesters on the head on multiple occasions, leading to several cases of concussion, cuts and other head injuries.xxvi 2.2.1.1. Inherently abusive hand held kinetic impact weapons Investigations by the Omega Research Foundation have discovered the ongoing manufacture and marketing to police and security forces of a range of inherently abusive and dangerous hand held kinetic impact weapons and devices including spiked batons and spiked shields; sjamboks and other strengthened whips; weighted gloves and weighted batons. They are designed to increase, not minimize, the amount of pain and injury inflicted on subjects, and certain types can cause skin tearing and puncture injuries. Their use would lead to severe physical pain, mental suffering and serious injury and they therefore clearly cannot legitimately be used for law enforcement purposes. 2.2.2. Launched kinetic impact projectiles Launched kinetic impact projectiles incorporate a wide range of ammunition that can contain single or multiple projectiles propelled on firing and are intended to cause blunt or nonpenetrative trauma. Often called “rubber bullets” or “plastic bullets”, projectiles can be made of rubber, plastic, wood or other materials. Ammunition can incorporate single or multiple projectiles including, for example, pellets, balls, blocks, cylinders, or fabric bags filled with pellets (bean bags). Kinetic impact projectiles are normally designed to be fired directly at a person, but should be fired to avoid sensitive areas of the body such as the head and chest.