-Caveat Lector-
US Said To Export Torture Weapons
By Pauline Jelinek
Associated Press Writer
Monday, Feb. 26, 2001; 10:00 a.m. EST
WASHINGTON –– Dozens of U.S. companies sell weapons and other
equipment used overseas for torture, Amnesty International said Monday,
calling for a ban on the sales.
The items include high-tech electroshock weapons, leg irons and
serrated thumb cuffs designed to tear flesh if a detainee tries to get free,
said a report by the U.S. chapter of the London-based human rights group.
"No U.S. company should profit from torture," said William F.
Schulz, head of the chapter.
"The global manufacture, marketing and export of the equipment
for torture is a moneymaking business that turns a blind eye to the
suffering it causes," said the report, "Stopping the Torture Trade."
Although it is illegal to own some of the equipment in the
United States, Amnesty International said the Commerce Department has
granted export licenses for sales valued at $97 million since 1997 under the
category of "crime control equipment." It said some 80 American companies
were involved in the manufacture, marketing and export of the items.
An analysis of Commerce data shows Saudi Arabia, Russia, Taiwan,
Israel and Egypt as the major recipients of the U.S. equipment, Amnesty
said. The report said the group has documented that torturers in those
countries use such technology.
The equipment could also be used for legitimate law enforcement
reasons, including to restrain or subdue detainees. But Amnesty spokesman
Alistair Hodgett said the group still believes some of them – such as the
flesh-tearing thumb cuffs and a belt that emits electric shocks – are
"inherently cruel" and their export thus should be banned outright. Other
devices have not been tested for their medical effects, and their export
should be suspended, he said.
Amnesty released the study as the State Department was issuing
its annual report on human rights around the world.
"It is unconscionable that while the U.S. State Department
promotes human rights, the U.S. Department of Commerce has approved export
licenses to countries that our own government documents as committing
torture," Schulz said in a statement.
Hodgett said there are relatively few manufacturers of the
equipment, but they sell to an increasing number of suppliers and marketers.
"Once they roll off the production line there's no followup to
show where these things end up," he said in an interview.
"Despite improved government regulation of exports, weapons are
being sold and resold into the hands of torturers," Schulz said.
"In the absence of stringent worldwide controls to prevent this
..., export should be immediately halted," the Amnesty International report
said.
The report is part of a yearlong campaign by the human rights
group to document torture around the world. It also has launched an Internet
program in which supporters can send messages quickly to officials where
torture is taking place and demand an immediate end to the abuse.
–––
On the Net: Amnesty International USA: www.amnestyusa.org
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