In its 2016-7 Annual Report, Amnesty International stated that in the Russian Federation “torture and other ill-treatment continued to be widespread and systematic during initial detention and in prison colonies”. Among the cases highlighted was that of Murad Ragimov. “On 30 August 2016, Murad Ragimov and his father were beaten and tortured by officers from the Ministry of the Interior’s Special Response Unit for two hours in the kitchen of their home in Moscow. The officers accused Murad Ragimov of killing a policeman in Dagestan, and of fighting for the armed group Islamic State in Syria. Murad Ragimov’s cousin was handcuffed to the kitchen table while officers tortured Murad Ragimov using an electricshock baton, and suffocating him with a plastic bag.”37[Emphasis added]. 2.2. Manufacture, promotion and/or transfer of direct contact electric shock weapons All EU Member States, under EC Regulation 1236/2005, are required to control the export of “portable electric shock devices, including but not limited to, electric shock batons, electric shock shields, stun guns and electric shock dart guns”.38 All EU Member States are required to deny any export authorisations where such goods “might be used for torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, including judicial corporal punishment, by a law enforcement authority or any natural or legal person in a third country.”39To date no publicly available CoE-wide survey has been undertaken to identify which non-EU CoE member States control the import and export of these devices for law enforcement purposes, at the national level. 2.2.1. Manufacture and/or promotion of direct contact electric shock devices by companies based in the CoE The Omega Research Foundation recognises that there is an existing trade in certain direct contact electric shock devices (particularly electric shock stun guns) marketed to individuals for self-defence, which falls outside the scope of this report. However research by the organisation has identified CoE companies promoting direct contact electric shock devices to the law enforcement or military communities (as summarised in the table below). Images of a range of electric shock batons and devices promoted by Carriar El Trading Limited on its website (left); electric shock “stun gloves” promoted by Ledwave at Eurosecurity 2016, Paris, France. © Robin Ballantyne/Omega Research Foundation (right). 37 Amnesty International, AI 2016 Annual Report, February 2017, Russian Federation entry. EU, Council Regulation (EC) No 1236/2005, Annex III, Article 2.1. 39 EU, Council Regulation (EC) No 1236/2005, Article 6. 38 15