OVER THE LAST FIVE YEARS AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL HAS REPORTED ON TORTURE AND OTHER ILL-TREATMENT IN OVER 140 COUNTRIES instance gallows, electric chairs or automatic lethal injection devices - and trade controls on dual use pharmaceutical goods used in lethal injection protocols. Global trade controls on the ‘tools of torture’ and death penalty goods have never been more urgent. The rise in global prison populations has exposed more and more people to the risk of torture and other ill-treatment. Over the last five years, Amnesty International has reported on torture and other ill-treatment in over 140 countries – a likely underestimate given the secretive nature of such abuse – despite these being absolutely prohibited under international law. While in some countries there is evidence only of isolated cases, in others torture is routine and systematic. But the risk of torture and other ill-treatment is not just limited to detention settings; police equipment is also used for torture and other ill-treatment on the street. Recent years have seen a global upsurge in public protest, driven by diverse grievances, from endemic corruption to threats to basic rights and freedoms. From Hong Kong to Lebanon, Sudan to Chile and the USA, France to Belarus, people exercising their right to protest have been met by violent suppression by law-enforcement agencies. Police forces have used a range of “less lethal” equipment and weapons, particularly chemical irritants and kinetic impact projectiles, in a wholly inappropriate manner. In some instances, the use of such weapons may have constituted torture or other ill-treatment. Such abuse includes the deliberate and repeated targeting of peaceful protesters with rubber bullets, plastic bullets and other potentially lethal projectiles; the gratuitous and punitive use of chemical irritants such as pepper spray against individuals posing no threat; and the use of large quantities of tear gas in confined spaces. THE PATH TO GLOBAL REGULATION Over the past decades there has been steady development at national and regional levels of regulation on the trade in torture and death-penalty goods. A series of statements, studies and resolutions in the UN system from the early 2000s onwards have highlighted the obligations upon all states to regulate the trade in law-enforcement and other goods to prevent their use in torture and other ill-treatment. It was against this backdrop that in 2006 legally binding regulations on the trade came into force across the EU. Under the EU Anti-Torture Regulation the trade in and promotion of goods with no practical use other than for torture, other ill-treatment or capital punishment, such as weighted leg restraints, spiked batons, thumb cuffs or gallows is prohibited, while law enforcement equipment which has a legitimate use, such as pepper spray, tasers and some forms of restraint are subject to export controls. Dual-use pharmaceuticals used for the death penalty are also controlled. A series of parallel processes, supported by the work of Amnesty International and the Omega Research Foundation, have advanced similar controls in other regions. For example, following extensive consultations, the Council of Europe looks set to adopt strong recommendations in early 2021 for regulating trade in a wide range of law enforcement equipment to prevent their use in torture, other illtreatment and the death penalty. ENDING THE TORTURE TRADE THE PATH TO GLOBAL CONTROLS ON THE ‘TOOLS OF TORTURE’ Amnesty International | Omega Research Foundation 5