The second category of electric shock weapons, direct contact electric shock devices, deliver an electric Marlene Henrique Alves in North Fluminense, Rio de Janeiro. According to a report by the Rio de Janeiro shock when pressed directly against an individual. Direct contact electric shock weapons come in a variety of State Mechanism to Prevent and Combat Torture – Mecanismo Estadual de Prevenção e Combate à forms including electric shock batons, shields and stun guns . These weapons are already being used by law Tortura do Rio de Janeiro (MEPCT/RJ), in 2015 a juvenile identified only as ‘M’, was subjected to a enforcement in many countries and have been widely traded and promoted for both law enforcement and self- prolonged period of torture, during which he was beaten, stripped, handcuffed to a fixed object and repeatedly defence throughout the world Unlike projectile electric shock weapons, the shocks delivered by these devices shocked by guards using a ‘taser gun’. The report also notes that the guards wet his body to enhance the effect cause intense localised pain but do not generally cause neuromuscular incapacitation. As such they serve no of the electricity26. Similarly, in 2017, videos posted online, appeared to show members of the Group of Special legitimate law enforcement purpose which cannot be effectively accomplished with safer alternatives. Penitentiary Operations - Grupamento de Operações Penitenciárias Especiais (GOPE) in the State of 24 Goias, using projectile electric shock weapons both to fire projectiles and in drive stun mode against prisoners who were under their control and posing no threat27. In addition to their abusive use in places of detention, there have been reports of electric shock weapons being used inappropriately against protestors in Brazil. In 2016, for example, images and video footage disseminated online, appear to show police firing a projectile electric shock weapon into the abdomen of a young student protestor from Campinas, São Paulo, despite having already been brought under control by the officers28. 2.3 Striking Weapons Striking weapons including batons, truncheons and other clubs are commonly used by police and security forces for public order policing and in places of detention around the world. Such weapons can be made of rubber, wood, plastic or metal and can be short or long (20cm–2m), telescopic, collapsible or side-handled. Certain types of protective equipment such as shields or arm guards are also sometimes used offensively to strike or control suspects. 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 action. Batons and truncheons can also be used defensively by law enforcement officials e.g. to protect from blows from assailants. ▲ Taser M26 projectile electric shock weapon photographed by the MNCPT during a monitoring visit in 2018 © MNCPT If employed in conformity with international human rights law and standards, in particular those relating to use of force, certain types of striking weapons can have a legitimate role in law enforcement. However, The capacity of direct contact electric shock weapons to apply extremely painful electric shocks at the torture monitors and human rights organisations have regularly documented examples of the misuse of striking push of a button, and to do this repeatedly including to very sensitive parts of the body, such as the neck, weapons to inflict unnecessary harm or suffering, including through the use of excessive force or by hitting throat, ears, underarms, groin and genitals, without long-lasting identifiable physical traces, means that they or jabbing sensitive parts of the body. In certain instances, these cases have amounted to torture or other ill- are prone to abuse. According to the UN Guidance on Less LethalWeapons in Law Enforcement, the use of treatment, or have resulted in serious injury or death29. these weapons creates an especially high risk of “inflicting pain or suffering so severe that it may amount to an element of torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”, and may increase the individual’s level of aggression. As such, direct contact electric shock weapons are not appropriate for law enforcement. 25 As such, their manufacture and use for such purposes should be strictly prohibited. In Brazil, there have been numerous reports of the misuse of kinetic impact weapons by the police and by law enforcement officials in places of detention. In 2019, for example, the MNPCT reported that during its visits to prisons in the state of Ceará, a large number of prisoners had complained of having their fingers broken by agents of the Penitentiary Intervention Task Force – Força Tarefa de Intervenção Penitenciária (FTIP). In Brazil, electric shock weapons have been associated with a number of human rights abuses, including The report describes the practice of beating fingers with batons as ‘systematic’ and alleges that the FTIP agents the torture of a male detainee at the juvenile detention centre, Centro de Socio-educação Professora may have been acting under the orders of Secretary of Penitentiary Administration, who, in a public hearing 12  13