52 Grasping the nettle: Ending Europe’s Trade in Execution and Torture Technology Destination country Number of licenses granted and year Equipment Reports of torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in destination countries United Arab Emirates 1 (2012) Electric shock and pepper spray Abdulla al-Hajri, was, “arrested by State Security officers on 16 July 2012, together with his brother-in-law, Rashid Mohammed al-Roken, and was then detained incommunicado and in solitary confinement at an undisclosed location for eight months. He has said that he was tortured and otherwise ill-treated by interrogators who beat him, forced him to sit in an electric chair and threatened to give him electric shocks if he did not “cooperate” and “confess” to what they dictated to him…” Allegations of torture and other ill-treatment in pre-trial detention were made by some of the Egyptians accused in the trial of 10 UAE nationals and 20 Egyptians that began before the State Security Chamber of the Federal Supreme Court on 5 November 2013. “In handwritten letters handed to a defence lawyer in September 2013 after they had been moved out of secret detention and into al-Wathba Prison in Abu Dhabi, seven of the Egyptian detainees described the torture and ill-treatment to which they had been subjected by the State Security in secret detention. They said they had been beaten on their heads and all over their bodies with a wooden stick; forced to sit in an electric chair and subjected to electric shock to different parts of their bodies…” Source: “There is no freedom here” Silencing dissent in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Amnesty International, MDE 25/018/2014, November 2014 Amnesty International and Omega Recommendations: The January 2014 Commission Proposal incorporates a mechanism for Member States to, “address a duly substantiated request to the Commission to add goods designed or marketed for law enforcement to Annex II, Annex III or Annex IIIa.”242 Whilst Amnesty International and Omega support the introduction of a procedure to amend the Annexes on a case by case basis, as the need arises, we contend that this limited and ad hoc mechanism needs to be supplemented by a formal review process that would enable the appropriate oversight structures to review the operation of the Regulation and its implementation by Member States in a comprehensive manner and at regular periods. Amnesty International and Omega recommend that the current Article 15 and 16 of the Regulation should be either amended or replaced by Articles establishing a mechanism for a formal bi-annual review of the Regulation by the Commission in consultation with relevant structures of the Council and European Parliament. This review should specifically include analysis of: n Annex II, Annex III and Annex IIIa to establish whether existing goods should be transferred to another Annex, or whether further goods designed or marketed for law enforcement should be added as appropriate; n Implementation of the Regulation by Member States including national licensing decisions, reporting to the Commission, notification and consultation mechanisms amongst Member States, promulgation and enforcement. An essential aspect of Regulation implementation is for all Member States to introduce rules imposing penalties on violators of the Regulation (as explicitly required by Article 17), and for those rules to be adequately enforced.243 Consequently, we recommend that the bi-annual review procedure 242 European Commission Proposal (14 January 2014) op.cit., Article 12a, paragraph 1. 243 Article 17 of EC Regulation 1236/2005 provides, among other things, that, “Member States shall lay down the rules on penalties applicable to infringements of the provisions and shall take all measures necessary to ensure that they are implemented. The penalties provided for must be effective, proportionate and dissuasive.” Amnesty International May 2015 Index: EUR 01/1632/2015