[turkishpress]
Switzerland’s parliament on Tuesday approved the use by police of
Taser stun guns when forcibly deporting foreigners from the country,
Swiss news agency ATS reported.
Police will be allowed to use the electronic stun guns as a last resort, along with handcuffs and dogs.
The Taser packs a 50,000-volt punch that can paralyse targets from up to 10 metres away.
Tasers have been mired in controversy after a series of fatal
shootings in the US and Canada last year, with a United Nations
committee denouncing them as a form of torture.
In one notorious case last year, a Polish man died at Vancouver airport after being tasered by Canadian police.
The man, Robert Dziekanski, 40, fell to the ground and died after
the police officers piled on top of him. A passenger captured the
attack on film and the incident revived debate about the guns‘ safety.
The company that makes the weapons has said that similar deaths have
been shown by medical science and forensic analysis to be "attributable
to other factors and not the low-energy electrical discharge of the
Taser".
The Swiss decision was sharply criticised by rights group Amnesty International.
"This is a deplorable law … it puts people’s lives at risk," said Amnesty’s Swiss head Daniel Bolomey.
Amnesty Switzerland said it "believes Parliament’s decision to allow
the use of Tasers when deporting foreigners as scandalous and unworthy
of our country".
