Closely documenting and identifying the equipment used in torture and ill-treatment can have many benefits.  Whilst almost anything can be used for torture, some policing and security equipment on the market today has no legitimate use other than torture or ill-treatment, whilst a significant number of documented cases of abuse involve the use, abuse and/or unintentional misuse of mass manufactured policing equipment, amongst them less lethal and restraint equipment.  Documenting and, where possible, identifying the equipment involved can help hold to account corporate and government actors involved; strengthen legal case evidence against perpetrators; and assist in responding appropriately to survivor's disclosures.  There is much good practice around recording this equipment, and in making recommendations for its use, on which this Meeting seeks to build.

This Meeting - organised by the University of Bristol Human Rights Implementation Centre, the Omega Research Foundation and the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, and part-funded by the EC - aims to bring together a small number of international and national detention monitoring and torture prevention bodies in order to raise awareness of this equipment, of the need for controls on its manufacture and trade, and to discuss and share the good practice that already exists in the documentation of this equipment amongst specialist torture prevention bodies.  It was held at Villa Moynier on 11th March 2015.