Striking weapons with legitimate uses under strict regulation Hand-held batons: Even when batons are not designed inhumanely, law enforcement officers frequently misuse them contrary to the UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials.43 Strict rules and training for the use of hand-held batons by law enforcement officers in line with international standards should be established in order to minimize the use of force and to prevent unwarranted injuries. With the exception of using hand held batons to stop an immediate and direct threat to life or serious injury with the minimum necessary force, striking an individual with such a baton should never be aimed at the person’s head, neck and throat, spine, lower back, solar plexus, knees and ankles as this could result in “significant injury with bruising and rupture of internal organs, including the heart, liver, spleen, or kidneys or a head injury”.44 TOXIC CHEMICAL IRRITANTS AND KINETIC IMPACT PROJECTILES Toxic chemical irritants and kinetic impact projectiles are manufactured by a much smaller number of Chinese companies. Omega has records of four Chinese manufacturers/traders of ‘less lethal’ launchers and three of those companies are state owned.45 Four companies are thought to manufacture or trade in kinetic impact rounds and all of these firms also manufacture canisters / grenades containing toxic chemical irritants. Chinese companies also manufacture many different kinds of launchers for their kinetic impact projectiles and chemical irritants. These include shotguns, hand-held single shot and multiple shot launchers and vehicle-mounted grenade launchers. Cartridges and grenades containing kinetic impact rounds or toxic chemical irritants can be designed to fire from launchers or be thrown by hand. Chinese companies also manufacture and trade a variety of sprayers that dispense toxic chemical irritants including large backpack and smaller handheld sprayers and water cannon vehicles. Much of this equipment can have a legitimate purpose if used correctly in line with international standards, but some irritants and sprayers have proved problematic resulting in unwarranted injury and even, as a contributing factor, death when used on people suffering from asthma, or in conjunction with cocaine use.46 © Robin Ballantyne above: Chinese FBQ08 38mm grenade launcher left: Chinese 18.4mm shotguns far left: Chinese tear gas sprayer © Robin Ballantyne © Robin Ballantyne China’s Trade in Tools of Torture and Repression Amnesty International – Index: ASA 17/042/2014 13