Omega Research Foundation SECTION II: ABUSE OF LAW ENFORCEMENT EQUIPMENT IN SOUTH AMERICA35 When adopted in 1990, the BPUFF called for the development of ‘non-lethal incapacitating weapons for use in appropriate situations, with a view to increasingly restraining the application of means capable of causing death or injury to persons’.36 However, this process has often been industry-led and many of the technologies developed have not been sufficiently tested and are either ineffective or unfit for law enforcement purposes. While many of the wide array of tools now provided to law enforcement officials may have a legitimate law-enforcement purpose when used correctly, others are inherently cruel and should be outlawed (e.g. thumb cuffs or weighted leg irons). The majority of equipment being used for law enforcement in South America could be of practical use if used correctly; however, much of it is often abused to carry out acts of torture and repression. This section will briefly examine some of the equipment most commonly used in human rights violations, both in public assemblies and in places of detention. Recommendations will be made regarding the use of each type of equipment, but there are also general recommendations on the public use of force at the end of this report. II.I POLICING PUBLIC ASSEMBLIES The right to freedom of assembly is well-enshrined in international human rights law and is closely linked to other fundamental rights, such as the right to freedom of expression. The American Convention on Human Rights states, ‘The right of peaceful assembly, without arms, is recognized.’37 Any restrictions on this right must be in ‘conformity with the law and necessary in a democratic society in the interest of national security, public safety or public order, or to protect public health or morals or the rights or freedom of others’.38 Public assemblies including protests39 are used as a means of demanding respect for human rights and expressing dissent and indignation throughout South America. Protesters have repeatedly been subjected to arbitrary and excessive force across the region. In 2013, discontent with public transport price increases, high World Cup spending and insufficient investment in public services sparked massive protests which were reportedly met with excessive force by the Brazilian police.40 The Peruvian State has responded to protests by mining-affected communities by deploying the army and passing a law exempting the National Police and the Armed Forces from criminal liability for deaths or injuries caused in the course of their duties (see page 10). 35 For more detailed information on the types of equipment discussed in this section, please refer to the Omega Research Foundation Visual Glossary <https://omegaresearchfoundation.org/visual_glossary?search_api_language=en> [accessed 31 May 2016]. 36 UN BPUFF, note 4, Principle 2. 37 American Convention on Human Rights (‘Pact of San José’), Art. 15. 38 Ibid. 39 Public assemblies foster engaged citizenry and are vital to democratic, economic, social and personal development. Even when protesters forfeit their right to peaceful assembly by using violence, they retain other rights including the right to bodily integrity, which includes the rights to security, to be free from cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, and to life; dignity; privacy; and an effective remedy for all human rights violations. For more, see UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association and the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Joint Report submitted to the Human Rights Council on the management of public assemblies (UN Special Rapporteurs, Joint Report), 04 February 2016, UN Doc. A/HRC/31/66. 40 Amnesty International, ‘They Use a Strategy of Fear’: Protecting the Right to Protest in Brazil, 2014. 14