PART III.  INSTRUMENTS OF FORCE the use of handcuffs or restraints on women that are visibly pregnant.172 When handcuffs are used, the condition of the person should be monitored to ensure that there is no particular risk of injury or death.173 Handcuffs should be removed as soon as there is no longer a need for their use. In any case they are usually removed once the person has been taken to a secure holding area. Where law enforcement officials apply handcuffs, they have to report it afterwards, and also account for the period of time the handcuffs were applied before their eventual removal. The PSNI Manual orders all officers to “record all use of handcuffs in their official notebooks and will include the following information:174 • The handcuffs have been checked and adjusted for tightness. • The handcuffs have been double locked. • Officers have warned the detained person that struggling may cause injury.” Some restraints are forbidden altogether. The recently revised Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (hereafter “SMRs”, also known as the “Nelson Mandela Rules”) states that the use of chains, irons or other instruments which are inherently degrading or painful shall be prohibited.175 The Special Rapporteur on torture has stated that the use of physical restraints that are “inherently inhuman, degrading or painful”, such as electroshock stun belts, restraint chairs, chains or irons, shall not be used as restraints at any time, nor shall sedatives, neuroleptics or other drugs be used for similar purposes.176 Limb restraints Limb restraints are designed and used by law enforcement officials to restrict the range of movement of the arms and/or legs, when they are faced with violence or the threat of violence or when someone is actively fighting while handcuffed. For example, in Canada the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) introduced leg restraints, consisting of a length of rope and clips in which to restrain the suspects legs; its application is aimed at preventing a person from kicking and/or punching and allows for safe transportation of the person in a vehicle to a safe holding area. Limb restraints should only be used for the necessary amount of time, by officers who have received appropriate training, which should include an understanding of the medical implications associated with the use of the device, such as deep vein thrombosis, as well as risks related to 172  See for example the Law on Police of Armenia (2001), it its article 29.4: “The application of special means (e.g. rubber clubs, handcuffs, tear gas etc.) against women with noticeable signs of pregnancy, obviously disabled persons and minors (with the exception of cases of armed attack, armed resistance, and group attacks endangering the life and health of people)[…] shall be prohibited […]”. (As quoted in Amnesty International, Use of Force, Guidelines for the Implementation of the United Nations Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials, 2015, p. 140). 173  See ACPO Guidance on the Use Of Handcuffs, 2009: http://www.npcc.police.uk/documents/FoI%20publication/ Disclosure%20Logs/Uniformed%20Operations%20FOI/2013/003%2013%20Att%2015%20of%2015%20Guidance%20on%20the%20Use%20of%20Handcuffs.pdf 174  Ibid. 175  See United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela Rules), Rule 47(1). The revised SMR were adopted by the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice in its twenty-fourth session, held in Vienna 18-22 May 2015, and approved by the Economic and Social Council, E/CN.15/2015/L.6/Rev.1, unanimously adopted by the General Assembly (UN-Doc A/Res/70/175) on 17 December  2015. 176  See Interim report of the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. A/68/295, 9 August 2013, para. 58. 83