Amnesty International: Police Use of Taser Convenes International Standards

Amnesty International has criticized the use by police forces of TASER weapons as contraventions of international standards prohibiting torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment as well as standards set out under the United Nations (UN) Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials and the Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by law Enforcement Officials. Amnesty has also asked that force should be used as a last resort and that officers must apply only the minimum amount of force necessary to obtain a lawful objective. They also provide that all use of force must be proportionate to the threat posed as well as designed to avoid unwarranted pain or injury. Amnesty International has called on law enforcement agencies to suspend all use of electro-shock weapons, pending an urgent rigorous independent and impartial inquiry into their use and effects. Other recommendations include recommendations for the immediate control and limitation on the use of the taser by forces who continue to deploy such weapons.

The AI report can be found at this url http://tinyurl.com/yj6dzb