UN: smacking could be a form of torture

Thats what the UN will be saying next, after this statement on tasers.

An expert had testified to a UN committee that use of the taser has "proven risks of harm... The use of TaserX26 weapons, provoking extreme pain, constituted a form of torture, and that in certain cases it could also cause death, as shown by several reliable studies and by certain cases that had happened after practical use," the committee said in a statement.

Some may say that to use the taser causes death. Well if you use a taser, pepper spray and batons on a person, as well as the force to arrest him, or use the taser three times on a person ( more than 150,000 volts), as has happened in the US, it is more likely to cause death, just like if you smack a kid then kick him and bruise him it is likely to result in child abuse.

So of course tasers can be a form of torture if excessively used. I'm not saying I support the use of tasers, but I definately dont support the carry-on in the US.

People think parents who smack with anger are breaking the law - and they are if they cause bruises - but police should also be seen as criminals if they angrily repeatedly taser people because the first taser shock didn`t do the trick. One even tasered someone because they didn't sign a speeding ticket. Thats a bit like a guy kicking and punching a stranger because he didn't like the way the stranger looked at his girlfriend. Both should be convicted for assault.

Anyway, according to the UN, tasers are not torture in NZ as torture does not not include pain or suffering arising from, inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions. Tasers are lawful sanctions in NZ. Therefore they are not torture. The UN committee never said tasers were torture but their use can constitute a form of torture. Quite different.

It's how tasers are used that the UN should be more concerned about. Just like it should be more concerned about child abuse than light smacking of children.But like all things, the UN seeks to ban the lowest common denominator because of the irresponsibility of the few.

Link: No Right Turn: Tasers are Torture