The use of rubber-coated projectiles – and more broadly theoretically “less lethal” weapons against protesters – is an “increasingly widespread” practice, human rights group Amnesty International said in a report released today.

“Across the world, security forces are increasingly abusively using rubber-coated bullets and other law enforcement weapons to violently suppress peaceful protests, causing horrific injuries and deaths,” the non-governmental organization said.

“The availability, variety and use” of such projectiles “are on the rise globally and contribute to the militarization of the maintenance of order during protests,” said Amnesty’s report, titled “My Eye Exploded ».

Unjustified use – “Convention Against the Trade in Instruments of Torture”

The text, released by Amnesty in collaboration with the Omega Research Institute, reveals that metal bullets and shrapnel, as well as tear gas, are “often” used in an unpredictable or punitive manner, which constitutes “unjustified or disproportionate use violence”.

Amnesty International and 30 other NGOs are calling for a global “convention against the trade in instruments of torture”, to be “supported by the United Nations”, to be drawn up and implemented to prevent the manufacture and trade of such munitions.

The result of five years of research in over thirty countries, the report also reveals that national laws on the use of these missiles do not always comply with international rules, according to which “these weapons should not be used except as a means of last resort against violent people who pose an immediate threat to the physical integrity’ of police officers or others.

According to Amnesty International, tear gas is often fired directly at people or crowds in Chile, Colombia, France, Iran, Tunisia and at least eight other countries.

In France, “at least 2,495 protesters were injured during the Yellow Vest protests between November 2018 and May 2019,” the text emphasizes.

The use of tennis ball-sized rubber-coated projectiles “caused at least one death due to head injury and 24 very serious injuries” in Spain, according to the national campaign Stop Balas de Goma, which the report cited.

In Chile, 440 eye injuries, including more than 30 cases of sight loss, have been recorded since mass mobilizations against social inequalities began in October 2019. Amnesty International highlights that the real numbers are “likely much higher”.