automatic grenade launchers, multi-barrel projectile launchers and large calibre RCA projectiles.35 A contemporary trend has been the development of unmanned ground vehicles or unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) capable of carrying RCA-spraying devices or RCA projectile launchers. Their use raises serious questions as to whether and under what circumstances such use can be in line with international human rights law and standards. Other forms of wide-area RCA delivery mechanisms previously developed by companies in Asia and Europe including RCA artillery and mortar shells and cluster munitions are inherently inappropriate for law enforcement. DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: TEAR GAS USED WITH LIVE BULLETS AGAINST PEACEFUL CHURCH PROTESTS Between December 2017 and February 2018, the Lay Co-ordination Committee, a group affiliated to the Catholic Church, carried out peaceful protests once a month, after Sunday mass to demand the implementation of the 31 December 2016 Agreement36 which provided confidence building measures including the opening of the civic space. Protests were held across the DRC on 31 December 2017, 21 January and 25 February 2018. These protests were met with brutal and systematic repression by the security forces. In many cases, the security forces did not engage in any dialogue with the protesters. In some instances, they blocked the parishioners’ access to the church. Security forces used tear gas and live bullets against unarmed protesters. Fifteen peaceful protesters were killed, dozens were injured and many more arbitrarily arrested.37 Riot policemen fire tear gas to disperse a Catholic priest and other demonstrators during a protest against President Joseph Kabila, organized by the Catholic church in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo 21 January 2018. (© REUTERS/Kenny Katombe). 35 Crowley, M., Drawing the line: Regulation of “wide area” riot control agent delivery mechanisms under the Chemical Weapons Convention, Bradford University/Omega Research Foundation, April 2013, http://www.css.ethz.ch/en/services/digital-library/ publications/publication.html/163630; Crowley, M., Tear gassing by remote control: The development and promotion of remotely operated means of delivering or dispersing riot control agents, Bradford University/Omega Research Foundation/Remote Control Project, December 2015, https://omegaresearchfoundation.org/sites/default/files/uploads/Publications/Tear%20Gassing%20By%20 Remote%20Control%20Report.pdf 36 Amnesty International, DRC: Persistent suppression of civic space despite official rhetoric (Index: AFR 62/8395/2018), https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/AFR6283952018ENGLISH.pdf 37 Amnesty International, DRC: “They came with the intention to do harm." Brutal repression of peaceful protests, 10 May 2018, https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2018/05/brutal-repression-of-peaceful-protests-in-drc/ COMBATING TORTURE: THE NEED FOR COMPREHENSIVE REGULATION OF LAW ENFORCEMENT EQUIPMENT Amnesty International | Omega Research Foundation 21