"The British police would be delighted to have something like this" said the arms dealer clutching an instrument of torture. Little investigation went deep into ter industry on Wednesday to companies are involved in the equipment that can be used Behind all the official deniernment also stands directly Thatcher was a consignment gan Britain was selling torture deliver a 40,000 volt shock. An Amnesty International spokesperson explained how they have become the favourite tool of torturers. While they are capable of inflicting horrendous pain upon the victim, they leave no external marks.
The shocks are applied to blindfolded prisoners to 'soften them up' before interrogation.
These 'non-lethal weapons' are part of a growing industry. Torture is big business. And Britain is at its centre.
The military's experience in Ireland has made them world experts in matters of what is delicately termed 'internal seAll prison camp guards in China carry the terror devices. the number of victims". banned from Britain. But when lem in arranging purchase. formation emerged from the of 8,000 shock batons to the Royal Ordinance's parent other batch in with the Hawks tion yet to be answered. programme touched upon was the use of shock weapons by the British police. This has gone unreported here so far.
The police appear to be already in possession of the shock shield. Under the guise of an anti-dog protection shield they have already got hold of these fearsome weapons.
Like the baton the shields deliver a non-lethal shock that incapacitates the victim. They disrupt the nerve control of skeletal muscles, producing extreme pain by high voltage. The salesman told Channel Four's hidden camera that 40,000 was the 'optimum voltage'.
The programme makers could have made a lot more of this. The plans to use terror weapons in Britain is something we should know about.
Dispatches revealed how the ICL Technical Plastics firm in Glasgow manufactures a whole range of instruments of repression with the complicity of the Scottish Office.
Its boss Frank Scott said that he had sold shock batons to South Africa, in Abu Dhabi and to the Chinese. He was filmed in preparation for a trip to South America part funded by the Scottish Office.
Channel Four has done a very valuable service in exposing the extent to which Britain backs the torture regimes throughout the world. They have also indicated what the police have in store for us if we don't stop them.
SOCIALIST OUTLOOK No.76. 21 January 1995, Page 11 an obstacle). The joint London-