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| Compiled By GayToday
New Orleans, Louisiana--Amnesty International has released a media advisory detailing its new report on the use of electro-shock weapons by U.S. law enforcement officials.
One of the examples of the abuses covered in this report is a case in Louisiana in which electro-shock stun belts are being used on prisoners who are HIV positive or have been diagnosed with AIDS. Amnesty is opposed to the use of stun belts in all cases but finds this case to be of particular concern and a clear case of discrimination against HIV positive persons. The only other prisoners required to wear a stun belt are high security prisoners. HIV positive prisoners must wear the stun belt no matter what their security classifications -- resulting in medium and minimum security prisoners who are HIV positive having to wear the stun belt. It follows, therefore, that they are being subjected to what Amnesty International believes is cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, as well as being arbitrarily labeled as high security prisoners, because of their HIV status. The Amnesty International Statement: "Ban the Belt"
Amid national debate over the excessive use of force in law enforcement,
Amnesty International has released a new report documenting the increasing
use of high-tech brutality in our criminal justice system and raising concerns about the abuse and
unknown medical risks of stun belts and other electro-shock weapons.
Titled Cruelty In Control? The Stun Belt and Other Electro-shock Equipment in Law Enforcement, the report calls for a ban on the stun belt and suspension of the use of other stun technology pending rigorous, independent and impartial inquiry including thorough medical evaluation [to] prove that they are safe and will not contribute to deaths in custody, torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Amnesty International's report focuses on the stun belt, which causes immediate muscle immobilization, excruciating pain and loss of control of bodily functions. By the manufacturer's own admission, the devise can have dangerous effects on individuals with heart disease or epilepsy and those who use tranquilizers. No independent medical testing has been conducted. Inmates are rarely, if ever, tested for existing heart or other health conditions before being fitted with the belt. The report includes recent allegations of torture and ill-treatment with electro-shock weapons in local jails, state and federal prisons, and private prison facilities. Electricity has been one of the torturer's favored tools in the second half of the 20th Century, Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) Executive Director Dr. William F. Schulz said. The growing use of high-tech weapons in the U.S. dangerously blurs the line between torture and legitimate prisoner control techniques.
The stun belt is one of a growing array of electro-shock weapons used by police and prison agencies across the U.S. Other devices include the stun gun, stun shield and taser. The taser, which gained notoriety for its use during the 1991 Rodney King beating, transmits an electric shock to its human target via barb-tipped wires. The report names more than 130 U.S. jurisdictions, including 20 state correctional systems, believed to use the stun belt, a device that subjects its wearer to an eight-second, 50,000-volt electric shock by remote control. It is used by federal, state and local correctional agencies on inmates during court appearances and transportation to hospitals and courtrooms. Amnesty cites questionable circumstances surrounding several stun belt activations and the lack of guidelines to monitor use and potential abuse. As law enforcement agencies nationwide have adopted more drastic methods of arrest and prisoner control, complaints of police brutality have spiraled along with the massive growth of the prison industry. Over-population in prisons and jails, combined with budgetary pressure to substitute technology for staff, has led to the adoption of electro-shock stun equipment as the new method of inmate control. The Amnesty report dispels the prevailing notion that the stun belt is a safe and effective alternative to other forms of law enforcement. Citing a recent court ruling, the report notes that the stun belt as a restraint in courtrooms can be replaced by more traditional techniques, such as citing a disruptive defendant for contempt, removing the defendant from the courtroom unless and until he or she acts appropriately, or having the defendant restrained with handcuffs or a gag. One of the incidents detailed in the report involves the court appearance of nonviolent offender Ronnie Hawkins before Long Beach, CA Municipal Court Judge Joan Comparet-Cassani in June 1998. After refusing several admonishments by the judge to stop talking, Hawkins, fitted with the stun belt, was shocked with 50,000 volts as punishment. The incident resulted in a pending civil suit and temporary injunction banning courtroom use of the stun belt in Los Angeles County. An amicus brief recently filed by the Justice Department defends the use of stun belts in the courtroom, while Amnesty has filed a brief calling attention to the belt's potential for torture under internationally recognized standards. Amnesty International expressed particular concern in its report about the use of the stun belts on HIV positive prisoners and prisoners diagnosed with AIDS in the Old Parish Prison in New Orleans, Louisiana, where guards systematically place HIV positive inmates in stun belts during transport to and from medical facilities. It is discriminatory and unconscionable that prison guards use the belt on inmates not because of their security classification some are serving sentences for misdemeanors but because of their HIV status equivalent prisoners without HIV/AIDS in other Orleans Parish Prison facilities are not made to wear the stun belt, Schulz explained. Amnesty International has grave concerns about the heath risks posed to inmates who are equipped with the belt and to those who are denied medical care if they refuse to wear it. These HIV positive inmates are made to sign a release authorizing the fitting of the stun belt. Schulz said that what is especially disturbing is that failure to sign the release will result in denial of transportation to health facilities for life-sustaining treatment. The Amnesty report also includes assessments from medical experts who point out that there is medical evidence that electro-shock devices in general may produce harmful or even fatal effects. The stun belt manufacturer relies for its claim of safety on tests what were conducted not on humans but on anaesthetized pigs. With no independent medical testing, it is especially outrageous that prison officials use the stun belt on inmates who are HIV-positive or have been diagnosed with AIDS or other inmates suffering from serious health problems, Schulz added. On November 13, 1998, Amnesty International wrote to the Sheriff of the New Orleans Parish after learning about this practice. To date, Amnesty International has not received a reply to its letter which urged that the use of stun belts against all prisoners be stopped while expressing particular concern about its use on HIV-positive prisoners and those diagnosed with AIDS. On March 5, 1999, legal arguments on the case were presented before a New Orleans judge by a lawyer representing the unit of HIV-positive prisoners. At the time of writing, the judge had not made any ruling. Amnesty International is calling on its members around the world to write letters to the Sheriff asking that this practice be stopped. |
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