CONTROL MULTI-POINT RESTRAINTS WITH FABRIC STRAPS INCLUDING RESTRAINT CHAIRS, SHACKLE BEDS OR SHACKLE BOARDS Images of restraint chair (left) and restraint bed (right) with fabric restraints (both images© Robin Ballantyne/Omega Research Foundation). Some full body restraints might have legitimate employment in restricted and carefully controlled medical contexts, for instance to prevent movement during emergency treatment, or to prevent suicide or self-harm. However, a range of devices incorporating multiple restraints such as shackle boards, shackle beds and restraint chairs have been commercially promoted for penal and law enforcement use,23 although they are inappropriate for such use. The UN Committee against Torture has recommended the abolition of “restraint chairs as methods of restraining those in custody”, as “[t]heir use almost invariably leads to breaches of Article 16 [the prohibition against cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment].”24 23 Amnesty International and the Omega Research Foundation, Grasping the nettle: Ending Europe’s trade in execution and torture technology (Index: ACT 01/1632/2015);.China’s trade in tools of torture and repression (Index: ASA 17/042/2014). 24 Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committee against Torture: United States of America, UN Doc. CAT/C/24/6, 15 May 2000, para. 6(c). 16 COMBATING TORTURE: THE NEED FOR COMPREHENSIVE REGULATION OF LAW ENFORCEMENT EQUIPMENT Amnesty International | Omega Research Foundation