An Garda Síochána has been strongly criticised by United Nations (UN) human rights rapporteurs for purchasing double-strength ‘pepper sprays’ and the way these products were used on protesters near the Dublin Tunnel last year.
Special rapporteurs Gina Romero and Alice Jill Edwards said they were “alarmed” that the Garda had acquired SABRE Red Crossfire MK‑3 Gel, one of the strongest irritant or pepper sprays on the market.
They also said they were “dismayed” to learn that stun guns, or Tasers, could potentially be used “against pregnant women and the elderly” by gardaí.
The UN-appointed experts said Tasers had the capacity to deliver electric shocks to a target’s body and that practice had been identified by the special rapporteur on torture “as being inherently cruel, inhuman or degrading and therefore considered to be prohibited”.
RM Block
They said less-lethal weapons “should not be used in situations of crowd control, especially in situations involving the exercise of the right to peaceful assembly”.
In the statement, issued by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Romero and Edwards said they had reported their concerns to the Government.
In reply to queries, a spokesman for Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan said he was aware of the criticisms relating to the stun guns and pepper sprays but added that the Garda “will remain a primarily unarmed police service”.
“There is a strong tradition of policing by consent in this country, and this remains unchanged,” he said.
Each use of incapacitant sprays by gardaí must be lawful and every incident is reported to the independent oversight agency Fiosrú, with statistics around their use published, he said.
[ People Before Profit allege Garda ‘brutality’ against pro-Palestine protestersOpens in new window ]
Tasers were rolled out for the first time, on a pilot basis, to some uniformed gardaí late last year and had been used twice since, he said, leading to “successful de-escalation of the situation without any further use of force”.
The spray the UN experts expressed concern about was first purchased by the Garda as part of efforts to bolster public order policing after the Dublin riots of November 2023. It has since been used at several events, including those involving far-right and pro-Palestine protesters.
The special rapporteurs said the double-strength spray had allegedly been used by gardaí against “peaceful” protesters at a pro-Palestine event last October.
It was used “alongside other excessive means of force”, resulting in injuries among several peaceful protesters and at least one protest monitor, they said.
“Less-lethal weapons should not be used in situations of crowd control, especially in situations involving the exercise of the right to peaceful assembly,” the rapporteurs said.
The weapons “reduce the use of de-escalation techniques, increase the use of force”, and had been introduced by the Garda “following a pattern of opacity and a lack of public debate”, they said.
Romero is UN special rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association. Edwards is UN special rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Special rapporteurs are independent human rights expects appointed by the UN Human Rights Council, though they are not UN staff and are unpaid.
The protest they referred to took place on East Wall Road on October 4th last and was an offshoot from an Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign demonstration.
Pepper spray was deployed and shields and batons were used by members of the Garda’s Public Order Unit near the Dublin Tunnel. Garda headquarters said at the time that some protesters made a “concerted effort to physically breach the Garda cordon” after officers tried to disperse the crowd through dialogue.
A report published by the Irish Council for Civil Liberties said pepper spray was discharged directly into the faces of protesters, at less than a metre distance, and was used extensively, including against some people as they retreated, and when there was no risk of violence.
The department on Wednesday reiterated the Garda’s account of what occurred on the day. It said officers made “two separate interventions in response to co-ordinated and concerted efforts to physically breach a Garda cordon” after first attempting “to engage with the protest group to disperse the protest in a voluntary manner”.
