The Committee of Ministers has given its green light to the preparation of a recommendation concerning the trade in goods used for torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and the death penalty.
The Committee of Ministers draws on a feasibility study, prepared by the Steering Committee for Human Rights (CDDH), which highlights the current situation of this type of trade and the existing national and international legal responses.
The study includes an appendix pointing out law enforcement equipment and weapons which are designed to or can be misused to torture and ill-treat people, such as for example body worn electric shock devices, mechanical restraints or kinetic impact weapons, but also the misuse of pharmaceutical chemicals for lethal injection executions.
The study concludes on the need to strengthen international regulations, to ensure that the activities of Council of Europe member States comply with their human rights obligations to prevent torture, ill-treatment and the death penalty.
The CDDH should finalise its draft recommendation by June 2020.
