–3–
Instructions and training
75.
Following any decision to issue EDW, the authorities concerned must ensure that detailed
instructions are disseminated within the services which will have such weapons at their disposal.
Further, the officials who may use the weapons must be specifically selected – taking into account
their resistance to stress and faculty of discernment – and suitably trained. An in-service training
programme should be put in place together with regular testing (see also paragraph 80).
Technical aspects
76.
As with any weapon system, before the EDW in question are made available they should be
the subject of a technical authorisation procedure. This procedure should, in particular, ensure that
the number, duration and intensity of the electrical discharges is limited to a safe level. The CPT
knows of cases in which persons deprived of their liberty have been subjected to several electrical
discharges in quick succession; such excessive, unnecessary use of force certainly qualifies as illtreatment. In addition, provision should be made for a regular maintenance/servicing procedure.
77.
EDW should be equipped with devices (generally a memory chip) that can be used for
recording various items of information and conducting checks on the use of the weapon (such as the
exact time of use; the number, duration and intensity of electrical discharges, etc). The information
stored on these chips should be systematically read by the competent authorities at appropriate
intervals (at least every three months). Further, the weapons should be provided with built-in laser
aiming and video recording devices, making safe aiming possible and enabling the circumstances
surrounding their use to be recorded.
78.
Electrical discharge weapons issued to law enforcement officials commonly offer different
modes of use, in particular a “firing” and a “contact” (drive-stun) mode. In the former, the weapon
fires projectiles which attach to the person targeted at a short distance from each other, and an
electrical discharge is generated. In the great majority of cases, this discharge provokes generalised
muscular contraction which induces temporary paralysis and causes the person concerned to fall to
the ground. In contrast, when the “contact” mode is used, electrodes on the end of the weapon
produce an electrical arc and when they are brought into contact with the person targeted the
electrodes cause very intense, localised pain, with the possibility of burns to the skin. The CPT has
strong reservations concerning this latter mode of use. Indeed, properly trained law enforcement
officials will have many other control techniques available to them when they are in touching
distance of a person who has to be brought under control.
Medical aspects
79.
The potential effects of EDW on the physical and mental health of persons against whom
they are used is the subject of much argument, a debate that has been fuelled in part by a number of
cases of persons dying shortly after having been the target of such a weapon. Although the research
on this matter remains for the time being largely inconclusive, it is undisputed that the use of EDW
does present specific health risks, such as the possibility of injury on falling after being struck by
projectiles or of burns in the event of prolonged use of such a weapon in the “contact” mode. In the
absence of detailed research on the potential effects of EDW on particularly vulnerable persons (e.g.
the elderly, pregnant women, young children, persons with a pre-existing heart condition), the CPT
believes that their use vis-à-vis such persons should in any event be avoided. The use of EDW on
people who are delirious or intoxicated is another sensitive issue; persons in this state of mind may
well not understand the significance of an advance warning that the weapon will be used and could
instead become ever more agitated in such a situation. Deaths during arrest have been attributed to