CONTROL 3.2.4 RIOT CONTROL AGENTS RIOT CONTROL AGENTS INCLUDING TEAR GAS, PEPPER SPRAY Images of multi-barrel projectile launcher and drone with RCA projectile launcher (© Robin Ballantyne/Omega Research Foundation). Riot control agents (RCAs) are a range of toxic chemicals, including pepper spray and tear gas, which are commonly used (for example in hand-thrown or weapon-launched RCA grenades and cartridges, or via water cannon) for controlling or dispersing crowds. They are also employed (in hand-held sprays) against an individual or a small number of people, rather than in a crowd control situation. RCAs can pose a risk of unnecessary harm if used without following the manufacturer’s instructions or in contravention of human rights standards. Of particular concern is the use of RCAs in excessive quantities or in confined spaces where people cannot disperse and the toxic properties of the agents can lead to serious injury or death, particularly to vulnerable individuals. The majority of RCA delivery devices currently manufactured, traded and employed by law enforcement officials (such as RCA grenades and cartridges, hand-held chemical irritant sprayers or single RCA projectile launchers) individually disperse a limited amount of RCA over relatively short distances. However, there have been many reports of excessive use of force where RCAs were used directly targeting individuals in the street, against individual prisoners or in other situations within detention centres sometimes constituting torture or other ill-treatment. In addition RCAs have been used in excessively large quantities, during policing of public assemblies, sometimes resulting in serious injuries, like in Gaza (see below), in Venezuela34 and the Democratic Republic of Congo (see page 21). The Omega Research Foundation has documented the development and promotion of a growing range of systems capable of delivering significant amounts of RCA over wide areas or extended distances, which have the potential to cause substantial injuries. These include large-capacity spraying devices, 34 During 2017, Venezuelan security forces and government-sponsored civilian armed groups carried out a series of “nights of terror” violently breaking into people’s homes as a way of intimidating them against taking part in demonstrations or any other form of protest. Officials fired indiscriminately into houses using riot control equipment and weapons (for example, tear gas and pellet guns). Many people experienced breathing difficulties and some required medical treatment for the effects of tear gas as well as for gunshot injuries. See Amnesty International, Nights of terror: Attacks and illegal raids on homes in Venezuela, (Index: AMR 53/7285/2017), https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/AMR5372852017ENGLISH.PDF 20 COMBATING TORTURE: THE NEED FOR COMPREHENSIVE REGULATION OF LAW ENFORCEMENT EQUIPMENT Amnesty International | Omega Research Foundation