Shock value: U.S. stun devices pose human-rights risk.

• Author: Cusac, Anne-Marie
• Position: Amnesty International puts the US with Algeria and China in it March 1997 report on stun gun torture

Amnesty International lists the United States in the same class as Algeria and China in a March 1997 report. All three countries appear under a section titled, "Recent Cases of the Use of Electroshock Weapons for Torture or Ill-Treatment."

A decade ago, the United States did not often show up as a culprit in Amnesty reports. But lately, the United States has become a leading manufacturer and exporter of pushbutton electricshock devices, which Amnesty claims are unsafe and are ending up in the hands of torturers. Of the 100 companies listed in the report, forty-two are U.S.-based. According to Amnesty, countries that have received stun weapons exported from the United States in the last decade include Yemen, Panama, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Argentina, the Philippines, the United Arab Emirates, Ecuador, Cyprus, and Thailand.

One company the report cites is ArianneInternational of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, which makes the "Myotron" -- a compact version of the stun gun "available in pearl, black, or white," a salesperson tells me over the telephone. The company advertises the device as "small enough to carry on a big key ring and flat enough to carry in a shirt pocket. It's five times more powerful than the best police stun gun." A related device, the "Myotron-TM Venu," is marketed especially to women.

Other prominent U.S.-based manufacturers of stun weaponry include Stun Tech of Cleveland, Ohio, known for its stun guns, stun shields, and especially its stun belts; Nova Products, Inc., of Cookeville, Tennessee, maker of tasers, along with other electronic devices; and Safe Defense Co., of Greenville, North Carolina, which, according to the company's president, markets its stun guns to the general public through variety stores, "gun shops, pawn shops, Uniform stores, and flea markets."

Another company that makes an appearance in the Amnesty report is B-West Imports, Inc., of Tucson, Arizona, which in 1995 joined a South African company called Paralyzer Protection. B-West brings in Paralyzer shock batons and shields that deliver a charge of between 80,000 and 120,000 volts.

A B-West advertising brochure claims, "The Paralyzer stun baton is the result of a unique process developed by German scientists and doctors. The extensive testing done by the Department of Medicine at the University of Dusseldorf resulted in the correlation of volts, amps, and frequency to render a would-be assailant helpless without any damage to skin, eyes, or internal organs."

Amnesty takes issue with that account. "The professor has since told Amnesty International that he was not specifically involved in developing the `Paralyzer' range of stun guns and batons, but simply tested a particular stun device for another company in March 1985, the results of which cannot be applied directly to other stun devices," the report states.

The report also devotes considerable attention to Tasertron, of Corona, California, the first company to manufacture the taser -- a weapon that shoots two wires attached to darts with metal hooks from as far away as thirty feet. When the hooks catch in a victim's skin or clothing, the device delivers a debilitating shock. Los Angeles police officers used the device against Rodney King in 1991.

A version of the weapon, the Air Taser, launches "two small probes attached to fifteen feet of TASER wire" through the air, according to the manufacturer, Air Taser, Inc., of Scottsdale, Arizona. Because the device uses air instead of gunpowder to power the shot, it is not regulated by the gun-control laws that apply to other tasers, which are banned for sale to consumers. The company has multiple Internet sites, complete with visuals. One image shows a small woman in high heels and a short skirt shocking a much larger man in a black knit cap. A jagged charge travels from her hand to his chest, where it creates a small explosion. "The AIR TASER sends powerful T-Waves[TM] through the wires (and up to two cumulative inches of clothing) into the body of the assailant, jamming his nervous system and incapacitating him," proclaims the ad.

Air Taser also markets a new product it calls the Auto Taser. "Imagine an automotive defense system that fights back," the company says. "Any attempt to touch the AUTO TASER zaps the thief with an unforgettable, yet non-lethal 5,900 milliwatt electron pulse. A thief can't steal what he can't touch." The accompanying photograph shows a dark parking lot. A man reaches through a car window and lightning runs up his arm to his shoulder. He is grimacing and is...