Europe imports torture from US

A U.S. company has admitted for the first time that it exports equipment designed to inflict pain on prisoners to Europe. Under rules in force since 2006, the European Union has outlawed trading in a range of instruments used for torture. Among the products expressly prohibited is the 'Band-It' system; attached to a prisoner's arms or legs, it can administer an electric shock of 50,000 volts. Despite the ban, the manufacturer of the device, Florida-based firm Stinger Systems, has acknowledged that it exports such goods to Europe. Bob Gruder, the company's president, refused to say which countries have bought this item. "We only sell to military and law enforcement authorities," he told IPS. "Our products are sold worldwide but we prefer not to disclose where." Stinger, formerly named Stun Tech, has distributors in several of the EU's 27 nations. The Romanian company Gate 4 Business has confirmed that it had imported some Band-It devices. "We just took a few samples", said Gate 4 spokesman Cristian Anasteseu. "Romanian law considers it a lethal weapon." Anasteseu added that he has not been a Stinger agent for "at least one year", and that he is now seeking to import a pepper spray for use in 'crowd control' by riot police after meeting representatives of Mace, the company making this tear gas, in Las Vegas earlier this year.