THE MISUSE OF WEAPONS IN CROWD CONTROL China now manufactures, deploys and exports a wide variety of so-called ‘less lethal’ weapons and devices for crowd control purposes. Many types of less lethal weapons, such as chemical irritant projectiles (tear gas and pepper spray) and kinetic impact rounds (plastic or rubber bullets), can have a legitimate role in the policing of public assemblies, when designed and used correctly and in accordance with international standards. However, Amnesty International has documented numerous cases around the world in which such equipment has been used unnecessarily or excessively, preventing people from exercising their rights to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression.81 Suppression of Tibetan protesters Since the mass Tibetan protests of 2008, Chinese police have often intervened harshly to break up protests by ethnic Tibetans. In addition to socioeconomic discrimination, the authorities continue to repress Tibetans’ right to enjoy and promote their culture as well as their right to freedom of religion, expression, association and assembly. On 6 October 2013, 60 protesters were reportedly injured, some seriously, after the People’s Armed Police (PAP) cracked down on protesters in Driru county in the Tibet Autonomous Region. The PAP reportedly used tear gas and iron batons and opened fire on crowds of people. The PAP may also have been using baton rounds. The protest was against the earlier detention of a local Tibetan who had been protesting against attempts to force local families and monasteries to fly the Chinese flag on the Chinese national day. According to Radio Free Asia, on 8 October the PAP again shot at protesters in Driru, killing four and injuring about 50.82 The riots in Urumqi In July 2009, the police cracked down on initially peaceful Uighur protesters, triggering violent riots, in Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. Uighurs have suffered a long history of systematic discrimination at the hands of the Chinese authorities, which includes policies that limit the use of the Uighur language, severe restrictions on freedom of religion and expression, and employment discrimination. The demonstrators were protesting the authorities’ perceived inaction following the death of at least two Uighur workers in a factory brawl in Shaoguan, in China’s southern province of Guangdong, on 26 June 2009. From eye-witness testimony collected by Amnesty International it appears that the peaceful protesters were tear-gassed and live ammunition was fired in the air as a warning, as well as into the crowd. One of the protesters told Amnesty International: “We were protesting peacefully and they destroyed our peaceful demonstration. They aimed their guns at us, and we became stressed. They carried shields and batons, beat and started arresting people – women, children, old people, young students. They used tear gas.”83 Other testimonies collected by Amnesty International suggested that the police and security forces committed serious human rights violations during and in the aftermath of the July 2009 protests including beatings and arbitrary arrests and unnecessary or excessive use of force, including lethal force, in the process of restoring order.84 Given the fact that serious human rights violations are being committed throughout China’s law enforcement system, both in the treatment of detainees and the policing of public assembly, remedial measures need to include the strict regulation of the supply and the systematic review and reform of the use of policing and prison equipment domestically. The Chinese authorities must introduce laws and regulations in line with international human rights standards to eliminate the unnecessary use of restraint devices in law enforcement, and ensure the careful monitoring of adherence to such regulations. In particular the government should explicitly ban the use of restraint techniques and stress positions which constitute torture or other ill-treatment, and outlaw the manufacture, transfer and use of direct contact electric shock stun devices. In relation to the policing of public assemblies, the Chinese authorities must ensure that all law enforcement officers involved in the policing of such assemblies are rigorously trained and fully accountable to use methods in conformity with international standards, especially to refrain from using China’s Trade in Tools of Torture and Repression Amnesty International – Index: ASA 17/042/2014 21