Amnesty International Targets ‘Repression’ in U.S.

Spurred in part by a Long Beach, Calif., judge’s controversial use of a stun belt last June, Amnesty International on Tuesday unveiled a yearlong campaign targeting the use of “high-tech repression tools” by U.S. law enforcement officials.

The human rights organization is calling for a ban on the use of electroshock devices and chemical sprays by law enforcement personnel until the physical consequences of their use is more fully examined.

“Law enforcement officials . . . from police to prison staff, have a huge array of equipment at their disposal which at times is contributing to human rights violations,” said Pierre Sane, Amnesty International’s secretary general.

Other aspects of the U.S. criminal justice system that the organization criticized in a 153-page report include the growing use of the death penalty and what it termed “endemic physical and sexual violence against prisoners” committed both by fellow inmates and correctional officers.

Founded in 1961, Amnesty International is known for spotlighting human rights abuses in other countries--most recently China, Turkey and Indonesia. The new campaign represents its first focus on the United States.

“The U.S. prides itself on being a human rights leader around the world,” said William F. Schulz, the group’s executive director. And that is one reason why Amnesty International has chosen to highlight what it sees as abuses in this country. “If our own house is not in order, [our] voice is diminished, less effective, less powerful,” Schulz said.

Responding to the report, a State Department official said the United States welcomed scrutiny by the group but believed that its political and judicial systems were “the envy of the world.”

Christine DiBartolo, a Justice Department spokeswoman, noted that “many of the issues [Amnesty International] raised have been the focus of this [the Clinton] administration for the past five years.”

She said the department has brought brutality cases against more than 300 police officers in five years with “a very high success rate.” In addition, the department has prosecuted about 200 correctional facilities for violating the civil rights of prisoners.

According to Amnesty International, the use of stun weapons too often results in accidental deaths and the impact of their use--particularly on people with heart conditions and asthma--is not known.

The group’s report cited the Long Beach incident, in which a defendant, Ronnie Hawkins, 48, received a 50,000-volt current of electricity for eight seconds when Municipal Judge Joan Comparet-Cassani ordered the courtroom’s bailiff to reprimand the man for continually speaking out of turn. It was the first time a stun belt has been activated on a defendant in Los Angeles County, although the devices have been worn in courtrooms for over two years.

The judge removed herself from the case after the defendant filed a $50-million class-action lawsuit against her that alleged violation of his constitutional and human rights and sought a halt to the use of the tools.

The battery-operated belts are worn beneath jail uniforms, and juries are not aware of their presence. The electric shock can be delivered from as far as 300 feet via remote control.

Amnesty International officials said stun belts are often activated accidentally and may not leave noticeable marks on the skin, making overuse of the tools more difficult to trace.

Former boxing great Muhammad Ali has joined Amnesty International’s crusade against stun belts and will appear in ads with his photo that say: “Twenty-five times in his career, Muhammad Ali fought for a belt. Now he’s fighting against one.”