Convention on the Use of Nonlethal Technologies
Civil Rights | Significant
Acknowledging the advancements technology has brought to limit harm caused by military and law enforcement;
Recognizing that, without appropriate safeguards, regimes may use indiscriminate nonlethal force to subdue political dissidents, disadvantaged minorities, and assembled opposition to silence, abuse, intimidate, and otherwise oppress those who speak against them under the disingenuous claim that they are using merciful nonlethal force;
Infuriated that some might defend nonlethal force to excuse violence even when it does result in death and permanent injury;
Asserting that such abuse, even without the infliction of death, of a population is entirely intolerable;
Striking a balance between the reasonable needs of order and those of the rights of victims;
The World Assembly enacts the following:
- “Less-lethal weapons” are weapon systems designed and intended to temporarily incapacitate or impair a living target using a mechanism that limits the risk of death or permanent injury. A weapon may not be considered a less-lethal weapon unless they are intentionally designed to substantially limit permanent harm or impairment and do so in practice. In no case may member states consider the application of force from an otherwise lethal weapon in a manner calculated to only wound as a less-lethal weapon.
- Member states may interpret this law to apply only to the use of less-lethal weapons against noncombatants and not lawful combatants engaged in active combat.
- Member states and their agents may, and should, use less-lethal weapons as an alternative to conventional weapons.
- Member states and their agents may only use less-lethal weapons:
Member states must carefully limit use to avoid collateral damage to individuals and property and use the appropriate care and restraint that a reasonable person with similar experience and training would apply in similar circumstances.
- To subdue or corral those engaged in or imminently about to engage in unlawful activity; or
- To limit the escalation of force congruent with actual and perceived threats of violence.
- Member states may immunize both themselves and their agents for appropriate use of less-lethal weapons as outlined above and must indemnify their agents upon successful defense against allegations of misuse.
- Member states may not consider the use of less lethal weapons in violation of the above requirements permissible and must not extend legal immunity to themselves or their agents under such circumstances.
- If the inappropriate use of force creates criminal culpability, member states must prosecute the perpetrator accordingly:
Under either situation, member states must consider the reasonableness and applicability of the use of force as outlined in clause 4 as a question of fact and remit the question to an independent and impartial finder of fact.
- Member states must consider the abuse of less-lethal weapons in a conflict area a war crime and prosecute accordingly.
- Member states must consider the abuse of less-lethal weapons by domestic law enforcement in domestic scenarios an egregious criminal act and prosecute accordingly.
- Victims of unlawful use of less-lethal weapons may seek civil punitive damages in addition to civil compensatory damages against the state or its agents.