USA
Ruling limiting police use of pepper spray -- a positive step
The recent ruling restricting
police use of pepper spray to
subdue
nonviolent protesters is a positive step toward eradicating a
potentially lethal practice, Amnesty International said today.
Earlier this week the
UN Committee against Torture criticized the USA
about "the number of cases of
police ill-treatment of civilians...". The
misuse of
pepper spray by US police was one of a number of concerns
raised by Amnesty International in its report to the Committee.
The
San Francisco federal appeals court
ruled on 4 May that the use of
Oleoresin Capsicum (OC) spray (also known as "
pepper spray") may in some
circumstances constitute an
unconstitutionally "unreasonable use of
force".
"However, due to the risks associated with
pepper spray, its use is
questionable in any circumstances," Amnesty International stressed.
The ruling does not
ban the use of OC spray, but indicates that there
are limitations on when it is appropriate for use by law enforcement
agents.
The ruling stemmed from incidents in 1997 in which
Humboldt Country law
enforcement officials in
California swabbed liquid OC directly into the
eyes of non-violent anti-logging protesters and sprayed the caustic
chemical into the
protesters' faces from inches away. Amnesty
International at the time condemned the action as "tantamount to
torture".
After a federal judge had dismissed a civil rights suit brought by the
protesters on the ground that the procedure caused only "transient
pain", a three-judge panel revived the case. They noted that "The
evidence suggests the
protesters suffered excruciating pain" from the
use of the
pepper spray, and because the protesters posed no danger to
anyone at the time, a jury should decide if that amount of force was
unreasonable under the circumstances. The
4th Amendment to the
US
Constitution allows police to use only as much force as is "reasonable"
to make an arrest.
"This ruling should clearly signal to law enforcement officers that it
is no longer
acceptable to use pepper spray in such a
calculated and
deliberate way to inflict pain as a way of subduing demonstrators who
pose no threat ," Amnesty International said.
"We now hope that it will influence police practises not only in
California, but in the USA as a whole."
Amnesty International is renewing its call on the US federal authorities
to establish an independent nationwide
review of the use of
OC spray by
law enforcement and correctional agencies.
"All
agencies should either cease using OC spray or introduce strict
guidelines and limitations on its use, with clear monitoring
procedures," the organization said. To Amnesty International's knowledge
no such review has yet taken place and monitoring continues to be
inadequate.
Background
International law
encourages the development of
non-lethal weapons but
it states that such weapons should be "carefully
evaluated" and their
use "strictly
controlled". Yet, the use of
OC spray by police agencies
in the USA is not governed by a regulatory agency. Amnesty International
has long expressed concern at the lack of consistent monitoring of the
use of OC spray by US
law enforcement agencies and at its inappropriate
use in the case of non-violent demonstrators.
In December 1999 Amnesty International wrote to the
Seattle authorities
to express concern about reports of
police using large quantities of
OC
spray and
tear-gas indiscriminately against non-violent protesters,
residents and bystanders during the World Trade Organization
demonstrations. Some non-violent protesters who refused to leave police
buses on arrival at Seattle detention centres alleged that police
officers pulled back their
eyelids and put pepper spray or gel into
their eyes, nose and mouth. Another protester alleged that he had pepper
foam deliberately rubbed into his eyes with a
cloth after being strapped
into a
restraint chair in
King County jail.
Since the early 1990s, more than 90 people in the USA are reported to
have
died in
police custody after being exposed to
OC spray. While most
deaths have been attributed by
coroners to other causes, such as drug
intoxication or
positional asphyxia, or are unexplained, there is
concern that OC spray could be a factor in some cases. For example, just
a week ago a 30-year-old man from
Colorado Springs died after deputies
at a country jail (El Paso Criminal Justice Center) tried to control him
with pepper spray. Andrew J.Spillane, who was in custody on suspicion of
drug-related
offences, began having problems
breathing after being
sprayed; he died a few hours later.
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