The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Dr. Alice Jill Edwards, noted in her first interim report to the UN General Assembly in October 2022, that the trade in such equipment will be one of the subjects on her agenda, expressing her view that “some [weapons, equipment and devices used in law enforcement] appear to be designed for no legitimate reason except to inflict unnecessary harm on arrested or detained persons. Where they meet this threshold such devices should be banned outright”.
