ARGENTINA: The Justice banned the use of Taser pistols for the Metropolitan Police

July 13, 2010
Momento24

The head of the court No. 9 of the City of Buenos Aires, Judge Andrea Danas, decided to ban the use of Tasers (electrical stun weapons) that had proposed Head of Government, Mauricio Macri. Among the citations and recitals it is added that it is weapons of torture, as regards the United Nations.

In this way, it gave place to a right of cessation filed by the Centre for Human Rights of the City of Buenos Aires for considering tasers an element of torture similar to others used in the past unfortunately Argentina.

In turn, the order was given to protect the principle of legality and the physical integrity of persons living in the Federal Capital, avoiding situations of violence and subsequent police impunity and that the weapons do not leave marks on the skin after use.

Court prohibits use of stun guns by Metropolitan Police
March 2, 2010
Momento24

Judge Andrea Danas ordered the Metropolitan Police not to use so-called temporary Taser guns.

The precautionary measure of the judge was in response to an appeal presented by Human Rights association for Buenos Aires City.

The judge held that from the two legal interests must be prioritized health and lives of people than safety, according to the NGO.

Amparo stressed that the UN Committee Against Torture disapproved the use of taser weapons and claimed that such arms may infringe the rights as life, physical integrity and health of people and they encourage the concealment or police impunity because they do not leave marks on the body.

United Nations to quiz New Zealand on stun guns

March 12, 2010
ABC Radio Australia

New Zealand's Justice Minister is heading to New York - and the United Nations Human Rights Committee - to defend his country's use of Taser stun-guns by police.

Simon Power will face questioning over two days from the committee of 18 countries on Tasers and other issues relevant to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

The minister will be joined by New Zealand's ambassador to the United Nations, Jim McLay, a former National Party leader and Justice Minister.

Mr Power is expected to tell the committee that the electro-shock weapons have only been used on a few occasions by New Zealand police, and that they are an instrument of last resort.

$10m earmarked for police 'tools of torture'

May 23, 2009
By MARTIN KAY - The Dominion Post

The Maori Party says giving police Tasers will arm them with "tools of torture", even though its MPs must vote for the Budget to fund them.

Police Minister Judith Collins said yesterday that $10 million would be set aside in Thursday's Budget to provide all police districts with the 50,000-volt stun guns in the next three years.

The funding would pay for all aspects of the deployment, including the weapons, audio-video cameras attached to Tasers to film their use and training. It would bring the number of Tasers to 720. About 3500 officers would be trained to use them.

At present, just 44 Tasers are available in the four police districts, including Wellington, where they were trialled before last year's decision to issue them nationally. Increasing the availability of the guns was announced last week, but not the level of funding.

Police say the weapons are necessary to provide a non-lethal response to violent offenders, but critics say they have the potential to be misused, with Maori and the mentally-ill most at risk.

The United Nations Committee Against Torture expressed concern this week about New Zealand police being issued with Tasers, saying they caused severe pain that was a "form of torture".

Maori Party police spokesman Hone Harawira said the party, which is in a confidence and supply agreement with National, supported the UN findings.

"The last time I checked the job description of this country's police force I didn't come across any duty to torture people. We realise there are dangerous people out there, but we also know there are innocent people out there, and therefore we don't want tools of torture in the hands of police or anyone else."

Despite concern about the national rollout of Tasers, the Maori Party will have to vote in favour as its deal with National means it must support Budgets.

It is not the first time the agreement has seen the party vote for measures it does not agree with. Before Christmas, it was forced to back National's first round of tax cuts, despite figures showing they would deliver less to low income workers over time than those planned by Labour.

A disproportionate number of low income workers are Maori.

Ms Collins said "rigorous rules" would be in place to govern the use of Tasers.

Police Association vice-president Stuart Mills said the weapons would "save lives and prevent serious injuries".

"Tasers give officers an effective means to protect themselves, and the public they serve, without being forced to resort to lethal force." [Where have we heard THAT before??]

Canada urged to improve human rights record

Among other recommendations, the United Nations Human Rights Council is urging Canada to review its policies on police use of taser weapons.

February 3, 2009
By Laura MacInnis, Reuters

Canada should strengthen its domestic violence laws and stop religious discrimination against Muslims, a U.N. body heard on Tuesday.

Germany, Russia, Cuba, Saudi Arabia and China are among the other countries facing a review this month, under a less than year-old process that is meant to ensure all U.N. members are held to account for their rights records.

In its first examination under the Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review, Canada was also urged to do more to improve the welfare of its aboriginal citizens and to review its policies on police use of Taser weapons, following the 2007 death of an unarmed Polish man at the Vancouver airport.

The Canadian delegation told the 47-member state forum "no country, including Canada, has a perfect human rights record."

"It is important that every country open their human rights records to scrutiny, both domestically and internationally," Canada's deputy justice minister John Sims told the session in Geneva, where both the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights and Human Rights Council are based.

The reviews could help the nearly three-year-old Human Rights Council gain credibility as a watchdog for wrongdoings.

Since its launch in 2006, the Council has held special sessions on Myanmar, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan's Darfur crisis, and Israel.

The Council's predecessor, the U.N. Human Rights Commission, was seen to be largely ineffective.

Canada faced questions about its anti-terrorism laws, including a controversial "special advocate" measure in which a court-appointed lawyer with high security clearance stands in the place of certain detainees in their hearings.

Sims said the practice was meant to protect highly sensitive information while ensuring detainees get fair treatment.

"This programme special advocates will be challenged and will work its way through the Canadian court system. It will, in this way, be tested for how well the government has struck this important balance," he said.

On racial and religious profiling, he said that it was not used as it was contrary to the law. Canada's "bias-free" recruitment of police meant its force included racial or ethnic minorities less likely to engage in such practices, he said.

Addressing the concerns raised that it should ratify more human rights treaties, Sims said that Canada chose not to join the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in September 2007 because it was too vague on some issues.

"We are aware that Canada's position has generated a number of adverse reactions. I wish to stress, however, that Canada remains committed to fulfilling its human rights commitments to aboriginal peoples in Canada," he said.

The U.N. panel also said Canada ought to accede to U.N. treaties on enforced disappearances, the rights of migrant workers, and an optional protocol to the anti-torture pact.