Italian legislation

On 20 March, the Italian Ministry of the Interior and the Anti-Crime Directorate issued an internal regulation to the police forces in six big cities (Brindisi, Caserta, Catania, Milan, Padua and Reggio Emilia) authorizing them to experiment with the use of Taser guns.

The aforementioned internal regulation has been implemented according to Italian law n. 146 of 2014, which, in Article 8, provides for the experimentation of Taser guns in compliance with health and public safety.

Medical-scientific research

Liberties member Associazione Antigone has strongly criticized this political choice and intends to present a parliamentary question to ask for clarifications. Although the ministerial internal regulation is fully legitimate, it is important to point out that there are several investigations that report negative and worrying data collected in countries that have used Tasers for years.

Reuters reported that, from 2000 to 2017, according to the results of autopsies, 1,000 people died after a Taser gun was used against them; in 153 cases, the Taser gun was established to be a cause or contributing factor. Nine in 10 of those who died were unarmed and one in four suffered from mental illness or neurological disorders.

The gun takes its name of the eponymous manufacturing company: Taser International Inc., which has recognized a fatal risk factor of around 0.25 percent - one out of every 400 people struck by a Taser.

The American Heart Association has certified several deaths caused by the use of the Taser gun. In addition, Dr. Douglas Zipes of Indiana University and other authoritative doctors and professors agree that the shock caused by the Taser gun can produce cardiac arrest. This is especially true for particularly vulnerable people, such as minors, the elderly and those suffering from heart diseases.

European and international decisions

In 2014, the European Court of Human Rights, in the Anzhelo v. Bulgaria case, affirmed that Bulgaria had violated the Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (prohibition of torture) as result of the inappropriate use of Taser guns by Bulgarian officers.

In the decision, the Court also cites the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture, which states that the introduction of the Taser gun could open the door to disproportional responses by police forces. The UN Committee against Torture has expressed already expressed its opposition to the use of Tasers by Portuguese police forces.

Parliamentary question

In light of all these considerations, a parliamentary question is needed in order to clarify how the government could deal with the risk of death due to the use of Taser and other risks for civilians' health. Furthermore, it is essential to know if there has been an investigation by the Ministry of Health and what conclusions have been reached, especially those concerning the protection of the health of the most vulnerable categories such as pregnant women, elderly people, minors and people who suffer from heart disorders. Moreover, it would be interesting to know how much has been spent for Taser test trials and the companies involved.

Antigone is of the opinion that it would have been better to invest this money in trainings for police forces or in logistic tools, cars, or clothing instead of acquiring instruments that are potentially deadly.