An Amnesty International report stated that an increasing number of Chinese companies are supplying tools made for torture and fuelling human rights abuses across Africa and Asia.
More than 130 companies were involved in the manufacture and sale of devices such as restraints, electric shock batons and spiked metal batons, with such products being openly marketed.
China is the only country known to manufacture spiked batons, which Amnesty International said were "specifically designed as implements of torture".
Patrick Wilcken, security trade and human rights researcher at Amnesty International, said,
“Increasing numbers of Chinese companies are profiting from the trade in tools of torture and repression, fuelling human rights abuses across the world.”
Amnesty International’s report cites the cases of Chinese anti-riot equipment being used in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as examples of the “flourishing” global trade.
Wilcken added,
“This trade – which causes immense suffering – is flourishing because the Chinese authorities have done nothing to stop companies supplying these sickening devices for export or to prevent policing equipment falling into the hands of known human rights abusers.”
See the full report here.
We need your support
Sri Lanka is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist. Tamil journalists are particularly at threat, with at least 41 media workers known to have been killed by the Sri Lankan state or its paramilitaries during and after the armed conflict.
Despite the risks, our team on the ground remain committed to providing detailed and accurate reporting of developments in the Tamil homeland, across the island and around the world, as well as providing expert analysis and insight from the Tamil point of view
We need your support in keeping our journalism going. Support our work today.
For more ways to donate visit https://donate.tamilguardian.com.
