Senegalese Police Taser Reporters

[Joanne98]

BRUSSELS, Jan 17 (IPS) - A French weapons firm has acknowledged for the first time that it has sold stun-guns to Senegal, where they have been reportedly used against journalists covering football matches and political protests.

At least twice during 2008 Senegalese reporters complained that they were attacked by police clutching tasers -- electronic devices that can immobilise the person at whom they are aimed.

Although their manufacturers claim they are non-lethal, the human rights group Amnesty International published a report last month stating that 334 people died after being struck with them in the U.S. between 2001 and August 2008. Tasers deliver a high-voltage shock that disrupts the body's central nervous system and causes muscle contractions.

Antoine Di Zazzo, chief executive of Taser France, admitted to IPS that his company had sold 16 weapons to Senegal more than a year ago.

Di Zazzo said that the weapons were destined for Senegalese troops taking part in peacekeeping operations in Darfur, Sudan. Those who had reported seeing stun-guns in the hands of Senegalese police confused them for "electric truncheons, which are extremely dangerous," he claimed.

http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/nota.asp?idnews=45449