n Strictly limit the use of dart-firing electric shock stun weapons to “stand off” situations where the only legitimate alternative is the use of lethal force or firearms, i.e. when a law enforcement officer or member of the public is facing an imminent threat of death or serious injury. Given the extreme pain often inflicted by one discharge and the danger of death or serious injury resulting from the shock, such weapons should only have one five-second (or less) shock. Regulations should require officers to avoid additional shocks and prohibit continuous and simultaneous shocks. Furthermore, the regulations should prohibit the use of such weapons on restrained subjects, and on physically vulnerable individuals such as children, the elderly, and pregnant women. n Establish strict rules and training for the use of hand-held batons by law enforcement officers in order to minimize the use of force and to prevent unwarranted injuries. With the exception of using hand held batons to stop an immediate and direct threat to life or serious injury with the minimum necessary force, there should be an express prohibition of baton blows aimed at a person’s head, neck and throat, spine, lower back, solar plexus, knees and ankles. n Prohibit the deployment and use of toxic chemical irritants for public order situations in a manner which is arbitrary, abusive or indiscriminate, or which increases the risk of unnecessary harm to persons, such as spraying or firing them randomly over a wide area, or near unarmed people who are in confined spaces, or where exits and ventilation points are restricted, or near to elderly people, children or others who may have difficulty in moving away to avoid the dangerous effects of toxic chemicals. The firing of a metal cartridge of irritant directly at an individual, the discharge of toxic chemicals in a way which contaminates drinking water or food, and the use of such chemicals in very high concentrations must be prohibited, n Establish systems to ensure that prior to using equipment to counter violence and threats of violence, all law enforcement officers are trained in relevant international law human right law and standards, in particular the UN Basic Principles and the Code of Conduct and that all officers are individually accountable for the amount of force the use, so that their actions are monitored to ensure that any force is used only as a last resort and is proportional and necessary to the achievement of a legitimate objective. n Ensure that all officers required to carry out law enforcement duties are selected by proper screening procedures, have appropriate moral, psychological and physical qualities for the effective exercise of their functions and receive continuous and thorough professional human rights based training. Their continued fitness to perform these functions should be subject to periodic review. China’s Trade in Tools of Torture and Repression Amnesty International – Index: ASA 17/042/2014 33