Skip to content or view mobile version

Home | Mobile | Editorial | Mission | Privacy | About | Contact | Help | Security | Support

A network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists and organisations, offering grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues.

Amnesty Int. Calls for Investigation of Okland Police!

Amnesty International | 24.04.2003 10:57

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
PRESS RELEASE
AI Index: AMR 51/056/2003 (Public)
News Service No: 092
15 April 2003
USA: Call for Inquiry into possible excessive force against anti-war protesters

Following the anti-war demonstration at Port of Oakland, California, on 7 April, where at least 21 people were injured, Amnesty International called today on the Chief of Police to conduct a full inquiry into allegations of excessive force by police.

Police reportedly fired non-lethal weapons, including bean bags, wooden bullets and sting ball grenades at demonstrators, causing injuries to at least twelve protesters, and nine by-standers who were not involved in the demonstration. Those injured were reportedly hit in the back, arms, necks and faces.

In a letter to the Chief of Police of Oakland Police Department, Amnesty International acknowledged the challenges presented to police officers when policing large demonstrations. "However, we are concerned at reports that police opened fire within 30 seconds of ordering demonstrators to disperse, and that they fired projectiles directly at demonstrators at close range, including wooden bullets."

"Evidence has shown that the weapons used can cause serious internal injuries, break bones, inflict blindness, and are potentially lethal. A full inquiry is needed to confirm whether any of these weapons were misused by the Oakland police on 7 April. Steps should also be taken to ensure that police do not subject further protesters to such treatment."
"If the allegations are true, the police actions in this case would clearly be incompatible with international standards requiring that law enforcement officials should use force only as a last resort, in proportion to the threat posed, and in a way to minimize damage or injury," Amnesty International said.

"These reports are particularly disturbing, given the potentially harmful effects of such weapons on small children or the elderly, or people suffering from weak hearts or other conditions."

In its letter, Amnesty International asked to see Oakland Police Department's guidelines for use of non-lethal weapons and to receive information on police training in place for use of these weapons.

"This is not the first time we have had to raise concerns with US law enforcement agencies about the use of non-lethal weapons. All law enforcement agencies across the USA must introduce strict guidelines and limitations on use of these weapons with clear monitoring procedures," concluded Amnesty International.

Background
Weapons used on 7 April include:
Bean Bags: Evidence has shown that bean bags can cause serious internal injuries as they can penetrate deep into the body. If fired from too close they can cause broken bones and are particularly dangerous if aimed at sensitive areas, as they make it difficult to quantify the level of pain inflicted to some parts of the body. Although originally considered to be a suitable "less-than-lethal" force option against potentially dangerous suspects, police departments in some US states are abandoning the use of bean bags after finding that they can be dangerously inaccurate and deadlier than manufacturers claim .

Sting ball grenades: According to some experts, these weapons are completely indiscriminate and inaccurate. They should not be fired at close range because they are potentially lethal. The small pellets released when the grenades explode may penetrate the skin and pose serious eye injury risk, including blindness.

Wooden bullets: These were deemed to be unacceptable by the British government in the 1970s in relation to use by British soldiers in Northern Ireland as they can cause serious head injuries as well as the possibility of inflicting blindness and may penetrate the skin.
Public Document
****************************************
For more information please call Amnesty International's press office in London, UK, on +44 20 7413 5566
Amnesty International, 1 Easton St., London WC1X 0DW. web:  http://www.amnesty.org
For latest human rights news view  http://news.amnesty.org
web.amnesty.org/library/index/engamr510562003

Amnesty International

Upcoming Coverage
View and post events
Upcoming Events UK
24th October, London: 2015 London Anarchist Bookfair
2nd - 8th November: Wrexham, Wales, UK & Everywhere: Week of Action Against the North Wales Prison & the Prison Industrial Complex. Cymraeg: Wythnos o Weithredu yn Erbyn Carchar Gogledd Cymru

Ongoing UK
Every Tuesday 6pm-8pm, Yorkshire: Demo/vigil at NSA/NRO Menwith Hill US Spy Base More info: CAAB.

Every Tuesday, UK & worldwide: Counter Terror Tuesdays. Call the US Embassy nearest to you to protest Obama's Terror Tuesdays. More info here

Every day, London: Vigil for Julian Assange outside Ecuadorian Embassy

Parliament Sq Protest: see topic page
Ongoing Global
Rossport, Ireland: see topic page
Israel-Palestine: Israel Indymedia | Palestine Indymedia
Oaxaca: Chiapas Indymedia
Regions
All Regions
Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World
Other Local IMCs
Bristol/South West
Nottingham
Scotland
Social Media
You can follow @ukindymedia on indy.im and Twitter. We are working on a Twitter policy. We do not use Facebook, and advise you not to either.
Support Us
We need help paying the bills for hosting this site, please consider supporting us financially.
Other Media Projects
Schnews
Dissident Island Radio
Corporate Watch
Media Lens
VisionOnTV
Earth First! Action Update
Earth First! Action Reports
Topics
All Topics
Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista
Major Reports
NATO 2014
G8 2013
Workfare
2011 Census Resistance
Occupy Everywhere
August Riots
Dale Farm
J30 Strike
Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands
G20 London Summit
University Occupations for Gaza
Guantanamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
COP15 Climate Summit 2009
Carmel Agrexco
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Stop Sequani
Stop RWB
Climate Camp 2008
Oaxaca Uprising
Rossport Solidarity
Smash EDO
SOCPA
Past Major Reports
Encrypted Page
You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.
If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

Global IMC Network


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech