Chinese Firms Exporting 'Torture Devices’ To Africa In Higher Frequency, Raising Concerns

Although there has been a huge increase (28 a decade ago, now 130) in the number of Chinese companies that are involved in the manufacturing of torture instruments, they have not upped protocols to “ensure that the exports do not end up in the wrong hands,” says Amnesty. “Instead, most of the equipment is going to African countries where the rule of law is poor and where the potential for abuse is high, the human rights advocacy organization says.

Amnesty International, the human-rights watchdog organization, in collaboration with the Omega Research Foundation, a British organization focused on studying the international use and distribution of law-enforcement equipment on Tuesday made claims that Chinese companies are now massively exporting torture equipment to Africa.

According to the report, over 130 Chinese firms are involved in manufacturing and selling weighted cuffs, neck cuffs, electric shock batons, restraint chairs, spike batons, and more torture devices.

APAmnesty International described the act as a "worrying trade", in which the “inherently abusive” aforementioned instruments are being shipped to Africa.

China is known for its use of torture to extract confessions from suspects and according to Amnesty, some of its home-made equipment like projectile stun guns and handcuffs are considered standard police issue and “can have a legitimate use in law enforcement if used correctly and in line with international standards for law enforcement.”

EPAAmnesty also stated that the country also specializes in selling torture instruments to police departments in countries with miserable human rights records.

So far, Liberia, Uganda, and Madagascar are among the countries that have used the Chinese services to import such torture equipment to their nations.

According to Xinhua, China’s state news outlet, three officers and four security personnel from Harbin, China were convicted of torturing and killing one of seven suspects to get confessions this week alone.

Although there has been a huge increase (28 a decade ago, now 130) in the number of Chinese companies that are involved in the manufacturing of torture instruments, they have not upped protocols to “ensure that the exports do not end up in the wrong hands,” says Amnesty. “Instead, most of the equipment is going to African countries where the rule of law is poor and where the potential for abuse is high, the human rights advocacy organization says.