Law enforcement equipment is routinely used to commit torture or other ill-treatment. Police use tear gas, rubber bullets, and batons to violently repress and beat peaceful protesters and detainees. Some of this equipment, such as electric shock batons and leg irons, is inherently inhumane; other equipment is frequently misused. A lack of global trade controls means that policing equipment can be freely traded to rights-violating security forces. Building on the European Union (EU) Anti-Torture Regulation, civil society and the state-led Alliance for Torture-Free Trade have persuaded the UN General Assembly to take up the issue. In 2022, a group of governmental experts issued recommendations including the development a legally binding instrument. An international network of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) is campaigning for a torture-free trade treaty, banning inhumane police weapons and regulating the trade in standard policing equipment.