The selection of new documents in the Eur-Lex database points to a new Council Regulation 1236/2005 enacted in June about the trade in goods which could be used for capital punishment, torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. The regulation gives two lists in the annex.
The first lists goods as electric chairs or gallows, as well as "Electric-shock belts designed for restraining human beings by the administration of electric shocks having a no-load voltage exceeding 10000 V". All import and export of these is prohibited.
The second lists dual-use goods. These may have non-torture legitimate uses. It includes items for riot control or self-protection as "Portable electric shock devices, including but not limited to, electric shock batons, electric shock shields, stun guns and electric shock dart guns having a no-load voltage exceeding 10000 VNotes". Goods on that list need an export authorisation. The criteria for export authorisation are laid down in Article 6 of the regulation:
Criteria for granting export authorisations1. Decisions on applications for authorisation for the export of goods listed in Annex III shall be taken by the competent authority on a case by case basis, taking into account all relevant considerations, including in particular, whether an application for authorisation of an essentially identical export has been dismissed by another Member State in the preceding three years.
2. The competent authority shall not grant any authorisation when there are reasonable grounds to believe that goods listed in Annex III might be used for torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, including judicial corporal punishment, by a law enforcement authority or any natural or legal person in a third country.
The competent authority shall take into account:
- available international court judgements,
- findings of the competent bodies of the UN, the Council of Europe and the EU, and reports of the Council of Europe's European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment and Punishment and of the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
Other relevant information, including available national court judgements, reports or other information prepared by civil society organisations and information on restrictions on exports of goods listed in Annexes II and III applied by the country of destination, may be taken into account.
This might lead to some interesting administrative proceedings in 25 Member States. Some human rights activists could set up deals for exporting for example "thumb screws" (I am not sure what exactly the non-torture use for those is supposed to be) to the United States.
Then watch Member States authorities decide on whether "there are reasonable grounds to believe that goods listed in Annex III might be used for torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, including judicial corporal punishment, by a law enforcement authority or any natural or legal person" in the United States, applying the standard above.
This could provide some outside help for the United States Senators who, by a margin of 90 to 9, recently decided that there is no particular need to torture people in America's name.
Posted by Karl-Friedrich Lenz at October 8, 2005 04:11 PM