"Liberta', non paura!"

[rossana <rossana at comodinoposta.org>]

iornata Europea "Liberta', non paura 2008 - fermiamo l'escalation della 
sorveglianza"       Un ampio movimento di persone ed associazione sta 
organizzando una manifestazione europea congiunta contro l'abuso dei 
mezzi di sorveglianza attuato da governi ed imprese. L'11 ottobre 2008 
le persone che sono preoccupate da questo abuso scenderanno in piazza in 
tutta Europa, al grido di "Liberta', non paura!" Azioni pacifiche e 
creative, manifestazioni e conferenze stampa avranno luogo in molte 
capitali europee.
http://www.vorratsdatenspeicherung.de/content/view/242/144/

Switzerland
Parliament approves use of Tasers in deportations

In March, the Swiss parliament approved the use by police of Taser stun 
guns when forcibly deporting foreigners from the country. Switzerland is 
thereby one the first European countries to introduce the controversial 
weapon for deportations, following Portugal which distributed the 
weapons to its Lisbon Metropolitan Command, the Direct Action Corps, the 
Special Operations Group and the Personal Security Corps last year. 
Amnesty International, the Swiss Democratic Lawyers' Association, 
Humanrights.ch/MERS, the Swiss Refugee Council and solidarité sans 
frontières had earlier urged the Swiss Council of States (Standerat, 
which represents the Swiss Cantons) not to pass the law, arguing that it 
would be better "not to have any immigration law at all than one that 
allows for the use of tasers".

The law introduces a harmonised regulation on the use of force after 
several migrants died due to the use of police force during deportation. 
The cause of death during forced deportation is usually diagnosed as 
positional asphyxiation. Introducing the use of tasers may add another 
possible cause of death rather than reducing the risk. The law, expected 
to take effect in January 2009, will apply to all authorities dealing 
with foreigner and asylum issues that might involve the use of police 
force or that carry out transporting prisoners for the state.

Tasers can now be added to the catalogue of arms police may use, 
alongside handcuffs, dogs, and pepper spray. However, a joint press 
release by human rights organisations also voiced concern about the 
possibilities under the new law to delegate tasks that may involve the 
use of force to private companies, the fact that a formal prohibition of 
torture has not been included, or the lack of an independent monitoring 
mechanism whereby forced deportations are overseen by human rights 
observers, as the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of 
Torture proscribes. Furthermore, the law fails to prohibit the use of 
force against children, which may lead to violations of the UN 
Convention for the Rights of the Child. Finally, an adequate form of an 
independent complaint's commission are also lacking.

Tasers are particularly controversial as they are classified as 
non-lethal weapons, yet have led to more than 290 deaths between 2002 
and 2007 in the US and Canada alone, Amnesty International reports. 
Furthermore, the argument that tasers somehow reduce the use of guns and 
therefore fatalities ignores the fact that tasers are increasingly used 
as a disciplinary measure as well as a torture instrument in prisons and 
by police. In recommendations in its 39th session report to Portugal, 
which has bought the newest Taser X26 stun gun for use by police, the UN 
Committee Against Torture last November declared that the use of tasers 
is a form of torture. Article 14 of the report's Conclusions states that 
the Committee "is concerned that the use of these weapons causes severe 
pain constituting a form of torture, and that in some cases it may even 
cause death, as recent developments have shown", referring to three men, 
all in their early 20s, who died in the United States in November, days 
after a Polish man died at Vancouver airport after being Tasered by 
Canadian police.

Sources:

http://www.amnesty.ch/de/themen/schweiz/taser
http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=220931
http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cat/cats39.ht