CHINA’S TRADE IN TOOLS OF TORTURE AND REPRESSION China’s extraordinary economic growth over the past two decades has seen its manufacturing base rapidly expand in volume, range and complexity. One area that has received little attention is the manufacture and sale of law enforcement equipment other than firearms. While Amnesty International and the Omega Research Foundation have published reports focusing on the EU and global trade, there is now an urgent need to examine how this equipment is being used – and often misused – in both China and in China’s export markets. Of particular concern is equipment known as “tools of torture”, including electric shock stun batons, spiked batons, neck restraints and weighted leg cuffs. Even equipment that can have a legitimate practical use in law enforcement – such as tear gas or batons or handcuffs – sometimes become “tools of repression” and are misused for torture, other ill-treatment or arbitrary force. Amnesty International and Omega are campaigning for a global ban on the production, use and export of “tools of torture”, and greater regulation of all other law enforcement equipment to remove the risk that it will be used to commit serious human rights violations. www.amnesty.org