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Armed policemen train in Nanjing. Photo: Reuters

Spiked batons, neck-chains and shock shields: Report slams China's 'tools of torture' trade

Amnesty has criticised China in a new report for failing to regulate the production and trade of excessively violent law enforcement equipment such as spiked batons or thumb cuffs.

The human rights advocacy group Amnesty International has criticised China in a new report for failing to regulate the production and international trade of excessively violent law enforcement equipment such as spiked batons or thumb cuffs.

The report, released on Tuesday by Amnesty and the industry consultancy Omega Research Foundation, said more Chinese companies than ever before produce equipment that goes beyond what law enforcers need to rein in criminals.

While some of these products, such as handcuffs or ordinary batons, have legitimate use in policing, many others are described as “intrinsically cruel and inhumane”. The rights group calls on the Chinese government to better regulate and, in some cases, suspend production and exports of what it calls "tools of torture". 

“Increasing numbers of Chinese companies are profiting from the trade in tools of torture and repression, fuelling human rights abuses across the world,” Patrick Wilcken, a London-based security trade and human rights researcher for Amnesty said in a statement.

The group identified 134 Chinese companies manufacturing or trading law enforcement equipment, compared to only 28 such companies ten years ago.

These companies, many of which are state-owned, have a growing presence in the international trade of law enforcement equipment, the report said, with 48 companies offering their products for sale abroad.

Among the products the researchers found for sale were electric stun guns, pepper sprays and batons. They also found cuffs that tie a detainee’s neck to the hands or legs, or multiple detainees to a single chain.

Some of the 96 companies involved in the manufacturing and trade of electric stun weapons sell projectile stun guns, stun shields and electric batons.

China has replaced the United Kingdom as the world’s fifth largest arms exporter around 2012, according to data collected by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, returning China to a position held during the Cold War.

The world’s second-largest economy accounted for about five per cent of global arms trade. That equates to a sixth of US arms exports. China still traded less than Russia, Germany or France. 

Wilcken said that it was difficult to gather accurate information on how much of globally traded police equipment originated in China. “The issue we have is that the trade is very secretive, clandestine and very difficult to quantify,” he said. 

“What we can say is that China is undoubtably one of the leading countries in the type of equipment that we have called tools of torture. There are other countries, including South Korea, Russia, South Africa, but China seems to produce a particularly large range.”

Some of the law enforcement tools coming from China documented in the report: 

NQV001 'self-defense gun', manufactured by Chengdu Heng Police Equipment Manufacturing, has a reach of 5 metres.
Chinese hinged handcuffs, chain linked handcuffs and leg cuffs, photographed on All Dragon Holdings stand at China Police Foundation, 2008. Photo: Amnesty International

 

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