2 Responses

1. Julian,

   The reference seems to have been in the Committee’s concluding comments on Portugal’s report, not as part of a general comment (which the CAT almost never issues, anyway). Here’s the relevant paragraph. It doesn’t provide any analysis, but it does seem to be a blanket condemnation of this type of taser as causing severe pain (douleur aigue, which is also the term used in Art. 1 of the French-language version of the CAT) constituting torture. Only the French version has been released – the full report is here.

   Utilisation d’armes “TaserX26”
   
   14. Le Comité est vivement préoccupé par l’acquisition récente par l’État partie d’armes électriques « TaserX26 » devant être distribuées au Commandement Métropolitain de Lisbonne, au Corps d’Intervention, au Groupe d’Opérations Spéciales et au Corps de Sécurité Personnelle. Le Comité s’inquiète de ce que l’usage de ces armes provoque une douleur aigüe, constituant une forme de torture, et que dans certains cas, il peut même causer la mort, ainsi que l’ont révélé des études fiables et des faits récents survenus dans la pratique. (articles premier et 16)
   
   L’État partie devrait envisager de renoncer à l’usage des armes électriques « TaserX26 » dont les conséquences sur l’état physique et mental des personnes ciblées serait de nature à violer les articles premier et 16 de la Convention.

   11.26.2007
   at 11:33 am EST John Knox

2. For a lawyerly discussion it is worth observing what is often overlooked by journalists, that ‘TASER’ is a product brand that is often used in a generic sense, similar to ‘Xerox’. Here, the UN CAT report refers to a specific model of TASER, the X26. If you look it up, the X26 is a very powerful electro-shock application device. I am sure it hurts like a SOB. But is it per se torture?

   Here’s the Google Translate version:
   
   

   
   Using weapons “TaserX26″
   
   14. The Committee is deeply concerned by the recent acquisition by the State party electrical weapons “TaserX26″ to be distributed at Metropolitan Command Lisbon, Intervention Unit, Special Operations Group and the Personal Security Unit. The Committee is concerned that the use of such weapons causes acute pain, as a form of torture, and in some cases, it can even cause death, as has been proved reliable studies and facts recent developments in practice. (Articles I and 16)
   
   The State party should consider relinquishing the use of arms electric “TaserX26″ whose consequences on the physical and mental condition of people targeted would be likely to violate the articles I and 16 of the Convention.
   

   While the new U.S. attorney general might not be willing to comment on whether a specific device or procedure constitutes torture, we certainly can. Some things, such as pulling out fingernails, are obviously per se torture. Others might satisfy the Convention’s definition only when used to extract information or when used to inflict gratuitous pain outside any normal, established legal system. TASER brand products are used widely but are certainly not the first electric shock products, as police (yes, often in repressive countries) have historically used electric shock devices such as electric cattle prods to serve as riot control devices as well as to extract information and/or inflict gratuitous extra-judicial pain. (And stun belts have been used judicially to inflict arbitrary pain, just Google ‘Judge Comparet-Cassani’.) Some such uses of electric shock devices are clearly ‘torture’ while other uses are probably not.

   But the report’s brief recommendation that Portugal ‘should consider relinquishing’ the devices because uses ‘would likely violate’ the Convention does not appear to be a precise or careful analysis, and is utterly devoid of fact-finding.

   One of the least of my objections to the notorious “Pain Equivalent to Organ Failure or Death’ definition was its stupid implicit assumption that organ failure and/or death are necessarily quite painful. People frequently die in their sleep or suffer ‘mild’ heart attacks without suffering pain anything like having one’s fingernails pulled out. Not only was the Torture Memo evil lawyering, secondarily it was poor reasoning.

   I am concerned that others who oppose torture weaken their credibility by resorting to similarly poor reasoning and lazy analysis. If the only officers who would be issued the TASER X26 were Portugal’s version of a SWAT team (and the team has a decent human rights track record), then this deployment might be alright. The particular uses and context need to be assessed, unless the UN CAT is saying the device is equivalent to fingernail extraction. If that is indeed their claim, then they need to back it up with a lot more documentation, and develop the argument, instead of just sticking it into a conclusory paragraph.

   Torture needs to be taken seriously. Including by its opponents.

   11.29.2007
   at 7:15 pm EST Diplomatic Gunboat

Trackbacks and Pingbacks

1. There are no trackbacks or pingbacks associated with this post at this time.