Taser guns: the government was happy | Comp …

The government paid 5 million pesos to buy the first 100 taser guns, which will be used by federal security forces with a protocol that does not fix the restrictions
. The Minister of Security, Patricia Bullrich, announced last January that "it was a decision taken" and the official argumentation He argued that it would be for use in overcrowded places, such as railway stations and airports.

The offer was won by the American company Axon, with a cost of 5,285,000 pesos. Although the minister and security officials have insisted since January on the purchase of 300 electric weapons, the offer was finally 100, at a cost of 36 635 pesos each.

In addition, the government paid 1005 pesos per cartridge and 966 pesos per training cartridge. North American guns have an operating system that records their use in the cloud, which Security Secretary Eugenio Burzaco described as a way to know "what you're doing and how is used".

The what and how of the use are unknowns that the government has not clarified, despite accusations and criticisms of human rights organizations and the approval of a protocol to be used last May
.

Imminent danger

"The criteria for use are so imprecise that they actually allow any use.", warned the CELS after badyzing the protocol approved by Bullrich for the use of the stun gun.For example, the human rights organization cited the Article 2, paragraph C of the regulations authorizing "to prevent the commission of a crime of public action", which is "always, because it is the work of the police".

On the other hand, the protocol states that it will be used in the face of "imminent danger" but does not specify what would be a situation of this type. Bullrich, as part of the fierce campaign
, was responsible for broadcasting a fictional video in which he showed how the taser would be used
. In this case, it is about a man who tried to fly in the train with a stab.

CELS had pointed out that the UN Committee Against Torture which had intervened in cases against New Zealand in 2009 and against Great Britain in 2013 discouraged its use and considered prohibited, except in the case of "extreme and limited situations (in which there is a real and immediate threat to life or a risk of serious injury)" and "only instead of lethal weapons".

Bullrich's scenarios

Another of the arguments put forward by the Government was that the use of "intermediate" weapons would be limited to areas of agglomeration such as railway stations and airports. In this sense, the Buenos Aires government was quick to support Bullrich's initiative and announced its application in the metros.

But this decision does not appear in the action protocol and can be modified according to ministerial decisions. In this sense, it is the minister who has A month ago, he encouraged the use of the electric weapon in a very different context than originally announced. Bullrich argued that the case of the arrest of the businessman Esteban Mallorca Tebaldi
, by two prefects in a private building, would have been an ideal scenario
.

Macri and the tasers

The purchase of the first 100 Taser is the realization of the long desire of President Mauricio Macri, who had already tried to buy 300 pistols during his tenure as mayor of Buenos Aires.

In 2010, Macri also met the repudiation of human rights organizations, badociations and social organizations, but especially the judicial presentation made by Carlos Pisoni in his quality Citizen of the Federal Capital and Member of HIJOS

Pisoni obtained a favorable decision in the first instance, from Judge Andrea Danas, and the ratification of the non-use of these weapons by Chamber II in an administrative dispute, in 2013, after the appeal of the PRO.

The rulings highlighted the recent history of Argentina and the use of electrical stimulants as elements of torture in secret detention centers.. Macri, however, appealed to the city's Superior Court of Justice, which in 2015 approved the use of this type of electric guns for procedural reasons.

In order to overturn this decision, Pisoni filed a complaint with the Supreme Court of the Nation which, in March 2016 refused to badyze the presentation and, in this way, allowed the possible use of these weapons.

"Torture or cruel treatment"

"Taser guns cause intense pain, which means that its use may be considered torture or cruel treatment and may result in death", warned the CELS after the publication of the protocol, which he described as" unconstitutional ", insofar as it does not respect the principles of proportionality and reasonableness that limit the use of the power of the # 39; State.

The human rights body regretted that this badysis of the constitutionality of the use of electric shock weapons could be badessed by the justice of the peace when the case of the first victim is known.

"With the incorporation of "less lethal weapons", we try to conceal the use of state violence. and the serious badignments for life and the integrity they produce, "CELS said.