Citation

Wright S. Med. Conflict. Surviv. 2001; 17(3): 221-233.

Affiliation

Omega Foundation, Manchester, UK.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2001, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

11578040

Abstract

This article is based on two recent reports contracted by the European Parliament (EP), which assessed sub-lethal weapons as flexible tools of political control. It analyses the role and function of existing weapons systems in human rights abuses using examples from Indonesia, Israel, Kenya, Northern Ireland and Turkey. These weapons are designed to 'appear' rather than 'be' safe and, since they augment rather than replace lethal technologies, their use can distort conflicts and actually bridge the firewall between use of less-lethal and lethal technologies.

Language: en