I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3541

To provide authority to prevent human rights violations by controlling certain 

exports, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 20, 2003

Mr. LANTOS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on International Relations 

A BILL

To provide authority to prevent human rights violations by 

controlling certain exports, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Implements of Torture 

5 Export Control Act of 2004’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) In 1984, the United Nations General As9 sembly adopted the Convention Against Torture and 

10 Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or 
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1 Punishment. The United States ratified the Conven2 tion in 1994, which defines torture as acts delib3 erately perpetrated by or with the approval of gov4 ernment officials, which are designed to inflict ex5 treme physical or psychological suffering. 

6 (2) Torture has devastating, long-term con7 sequences, not only for survivors, but also for their 

8 families, friends, and communities. Survivors’ rela9 tionships with others suffer greatly because of the 

10 distrust and sense of alienation from humanity that 

11 the torture has engendered. 

12 (3) Amnesty International reports that there 

13 are over 117 countries in the world which engage in 

14 or condone torture. It is estimated that over 

15 500,000 victims of foreign governmental torture live 

16 in the United States. 

17 (4) Mechanical restraints, such as handcuffs, 

18 leg irons, shackles, and thumbcuffs, are some of the 

19 most widely used security devices; they are also 

20 widely abused as implements of torture. 

21 (5) Equipment designed for legitimate law en22 forcement purposes can be misused to suppress free23 dom and commit human rights violations, particu24 larly in countries where police authorities are used 

25 to monitor and harass human rights activists, oppo-
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1 sition political figures, and others and where there 

2 are political or free expression ‘‘crimes’’. 

3 (6) Many devices intended for crime control 

4 purposes, such as electro-shock discharge devices, 

5 are especially susceptible to abuse as implements of 

6 torture. 

7 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

8 In this Act: 

9 (1) MAJOR NON-NATO ALLIES.—The term 

10 ‘‘major non-NATO ally’’ means any country des11 ignated as a major non-Nato ally under section 517 

12 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 

13 2321k). 

14 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

15 the Secretary of Commerce. 

16 (3) ACT OF TORTURE.—The term ‘‘act of tor17 ture’’ means any act committed by a person acting 

18 under the color of law that is specifically intended 

19 to inflict severe physical or mental pain or suffering 

20 (other than pain or suffering incidental to a lawful 

21 sanction) upon another person within the custody or 

22 physical control of the person performing the act. 

23 (4) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT24 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com25 mittees’’ means the Committee on International Re-
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1 lations of the House and the Committee on Foreign 

2 Relations and the Committee on Banking, Housing 

3 and Urban Affairs of the Senate. 

4 SEC. 4. LICENSING OF CRIME CONTROL EQUIPMENT. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 

6 (b), crime control and detection instruments and equip7 ment shall not be approved for export by the Secretary 

8 except pursuant to an individual export license. 

9 (b) EXCEPTION.—Subsection (a) shall not apply to 

10 exports to any country that is a member of the North At11 lantic Treaty Organization or is a major non-NATO ally. 

12 SEC. 5. LIMITATION ON EXPORTS. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—

14 (1) COUNTRY RESTRICTION.—The Secretary 

15 shall not approve the export to a country of the fol16 lowing items if the government of that country, or 

17 any group supported by or acting on behalf of that 

18 government, as determined by the Secretary of 

19 State, has repeatedly engaged in acts of torture: 

20 (A) Crime control and detection instru21 ments. 

22 (B) Equipment especially susceptible to 

23 abuse as implements of torture. 

24 (2) DETERMINATION BY THE SECRETARY OF

25 STATE.—The Secretary may not permit the export 
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1 to any country of any item to which paragraph (1) 

2 applies unless and until the Secretary of State deter3 mines that the government of that country, and, if 

4 applicable, any group supported by or acting on be5 half of that government, has not repeatedly engaged 

6 in acts of torture for the 12–month period preceding 

7 the date of the application to export the item. 

8 (b) END-USER EXCEPTION.—Notwithstanding sub9 section (a), the Secretary, with the concurrence of the Sec10 retary of State, may approve the export of any item to 

11 which subsection (a) applies if the Secretary of State de12 termines that the end user of the item proposed for export 

13 has not engaged in acts of torture. 

14 (c) NOTIFICATION.—

15 (1) DETERMINATIONS UNDER SUBSECTION

16 (a)(2).—The Secretary of State shall, not later than 

17 5 days after a determination under subsection (a)(2) 

18 is made, report that determination to the appro19 priate congressional committees. 

20 (2) LICENSES UNDER SUBSECTION (b).—If an 

21 export license is approved under subsection (b), the 

22 Secretary and the Secretary of State shall, within 5 

23 days after the granting of the export license, notify 

24 the appropriate congressional committees of the 

25 identity of the end-user and the determination made 
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1 by the Secretary of State under that subsection with 

2 respect to the end user. 

3 SEC. 6. PROHIBITION ON EXPORT. 

4 Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, the 

5 export of the following items shall be prohibited to all des6 tinations: 

7 (1) Any leg irons, handcuffs, and thumbcuffs 

8 that have sharp or serrated edges. 

9 (2) Saps, blackjacks, brass knuckles, and other 

10 easily concealed devices designed to administer se11 vere blows to the body. 

12 (3) Electroshock stun belts. 

13 (4) Items specially designed as implements of 

14 torture. 

15 (5) Batons or clubs fitted with spikes or other 

16 hard protuberances. 

17 (6) Components produced for incorporation into 

18 these items and the technology used for the develop19 ment or production of these items. 

20 SEC. 7. ESTABLISHMENT OF CONTROL LIST. 

21 The Secretary shall establish and maintain, with the 

22 concurrence of the Secretary of State, a list of—

23 (1) crime control and detection instruments; 

24 and 
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1 (2) equipment especially susceptible to abuse as 

2 implements of torture. 

3 The Secretary shall publish the list in the Federal Reg4 ister. 

5 SEC. 8. EXPORT LICENSE REVIEW. 

6 (a) CONSULTATION.—In addition to the Secretary of 

7 State, the Secretary shall ensure that the head of all ap8 propriate agencies are fully consulted before an individual 

9 export license is granted under section 4. 

10 (b) ROLE OF SECRETARY OF STATE.—

11 (1) REVIEW OF LICENSE.—Any determination 

12 by the Secretary to approve or deny an export li13 cense application to export crime control or detection 

14 instruments or equipment shall be made in concur15 rence with the recommendations of the Secretary of 

16 State. 

17 (2) REVIEW WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT OF

18 STATE.—The Secretary of State shall ensure that 

19 the responsible official of the Bureau of Democracy, 

20 Human Rights and Labor is fully involved in review21 ing proposed export licenses under paragraph (1).

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