Bad surprise at the Milipol show, the international security event which is being held until this Friday in Villepinte (Seine-Saint-Denis), near Paris. Steel-spiked batons, thumb handcuffs, shackles: several Chinese companies have promoted banned law enforcement equipment, according to NGOs Amnesty International and Omega Research.
“These are products which are considered only as being capable of being used for torture and therefore promotion is prohibited at European trade fairs,” said Aymeric Elluin, head of Amnesty International. These cases were “reported to the organizers, who took the necessary measures,” according to him. The pages of exhibitor catalogs presenting these materials were torn or removed and the companies were given formal notice, the president of Milipol, prefect Yann Jounot, confirmed to AFP.
“Abusive” materials displayed in the living room
A partnership has been established between the organizers and Amnesty for several editions to ensure compliance with regulations by exhibitors. Beyond illegal materials in Europe, Amnesty and Omega claim to have also found at the show “materials identified as intrinsically abusive by the United Nations special rapporteur on torture”.
Among them, an electric shock baton marketed by a Chinese company, an electric glove sold by a French company or even “munitions which contain small kinetic impact projectiles” such as rubber balls, according to Aymeric Elluin. This equipment is not prohibited at this stage and NGOs are calling for the strengthening of European legislation.