The four United Nations anti-torture mechanisms* have today issued a stern call for more responsible and accountable policing of protests amidst serious human rights violations. As civic space is increasingly shrinking, individuals seeking to exercise their right to peaceful assembly continue to be exposed to serious risks of torture and other ill -treatment, including through unnecessary and excessive use of force. The experts welcomed proposals to develop international standards to prohibit the use, manufacture, and trade of weapons and law enforcement equipment, which have no other purpose than to cause excessive pain and suffering, and to strictly regulate those that can be misused to inflict harm. The current scale of torture and other forms of ill -treatment is alarming worldwide, with a particular trend of heavy-handed and sometimes brutal policing of protests. Many authorities increasingly treat peaceful protests as security threats, rather than recognizing them as the lawful ...
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