Flashball

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French policeman with a flashball

Flashball is a registered trademark of the French company Verney-Carron, denoting rubber bullet weapons. These are categorized by state security forces as non-lethal weapons and used against violent groups of people in Switzerland , France , Spain , Portugal and Macau, among others . The LBD-40 ("lanceur de balles de defenses 40 mm") from Verney-Carron and the GL-06 model from Swiss competitor B&T are mainly used . The use of rubber bullets by the police is controversial due to the risk of injury and was noticed in the media, especially in connection with the protests of the French yellow vests .

Controversy

Officially, the use of the weapon can lead to serious injuries in the event of improper use or insufficient training; Police regulations require targeted shots at the body or extremities (rather than the head or genitals). However, since the target persons are usually moving, the use of the projectiles, which are greatly slowed down at a distance, must also unintentionally lead to false hits and has repeatedly and. a. led to loss of eyesight or fractures of the skull when hit on the head. In 2010 a man died in Marseille as a result of their use.

The energy of the ammunition is different and may vary. a. between 116 and 176 joules (SIR or SIR-X) and is sometimes classified by the manufacturer - depending on the ammunition - as "safe at close range" (SIR 40x46 mm). Overall, the manufacturer describes the weapon as "less lethal". In a statement regarding the yellow vest protests, the manufacturer B&T pointed out that the authorities used ammunition unknown to the company, but not the non-lethal SIR pulse projectile developed for the thrower. Other ammunition increases the risk of injury considerably and makes the thrower less precise. Despite the above police. Instructions also entails considerable risks when used on the body, since (as is the case with fist blows, for example), in particular, a projectile impact in the region of the solar plexus (a network of nerve fibers and nodes of the vegetative nervous system ) leads to dizziness, nausea or unconsciousness Previous illnesses can in exceptional cases lead to reflex death. Depending on the clothing, the energy, roughly compared to a “horse kick”, can also potentially cause ruptures of the spleen or liver or z. B. the testicles possible.

The BBC reported in January 2019 that 40 protesters were severely wounded by flash balls as of today. As of February 26, 2019, the Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović , sharply criticized the French police's approach to the so-called yellow vests and their use using the LBD-40. In view of the many injured, she called for a temporary ban on hard rubber bullets. Mijatovic stated in the memorandum that by February 4, 2019, 12,122 LBD shots had been fired, which resulted in 193 physical injuries, in many cases in the form of head injuries, due to the use of the LBD-40. This would demonstrate "the disproportionate use of force and the unsuitability of this type of weapon in the context of law enforcement operations".

In clashes between demonstrators of the yellow vests movement and the French police on January 12, 2019, a demonstrator, a volunteer firefighter, was hit in the back of the head by a flash ball and is in an artificial coma after emergency medical treatment and surgery.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 44 mm flashball models from Verney Carron . 4th March 2019
  2. ↑ Nathalie Roller: Gummikugelhagel Heise.de, 25 August 2009
  3. ↑ Gernot Kramper: Shot eyes, splintered jaws - the rubber bullet launcher LBD 40 divides France. Stern, February 9, 2019, accessed August 24, 2019 .
  4. ↑ Gilets Jaunes: French 'flash-ball' row over riot-gun injuries BBC, January 18, 2019
  5. ↑ The victims of LBD40 Süddeutsche Zeitung, January 29, 2019
  6. ↑ Rudolf Balmer: The Colt often sits loosely with the “Flics”. After ten years of activity, the complaints office for police attacks in France is closed. She initiated numerous proceedings against officials. In: taz.de. taz, the daily newspaper. Verlagsgenossenschaft eG, April 28, 2011, accessed on August 10, 2012 .
  7. ↑ Marseille: l'homme touché par un flash-ball est mort. In: Le Figaro of December 13, 2010. Retrieved February 1, 2019 (French).
  8. ↑ Comparison of the B&T cartridges SIR-X 40x46mm and SIR 40x46mm B&T AG, ab. 4th March 2019
  9. ↑ Download B&T GL-06 40mm LESS LETHAL LAUNCHER B&T AG, sold. 4th March 2019
  10. ↑ Statement on the use of the GL06 in France at www.bt-ag.ch, accessed on January 29, 2019
  11. ↑ mortars B & T GL-06 40x46mm caliber B & T AG, abger. 4th March 2019
  12. ↑ Gilets Jaunes: French 'flash-ball' row over riot-gun injuries BBC, January 18, 2019
  13. ↑ Council of Europe sees human rights of the yellow vests in danger faz.net, February 26, 2019 (updated), aborted. 4th March 2019
  14. ↑ Memorandum on maintaining public order and freedom of assembly in the context of the “yellow vest” movement in France b. Methods used by the law enforcement agencies, 16. (p. 3)
  15. ↑ Memorandum on maintaining public order and freedom of assembly in the context of the “yellow vest” movement in France d. Conclusions and recommendations, 28. (p. 5)
  16. ↑ Bordeaux: un pompier volontaire Gilet jaune dans le coma, l'IGPN saisie. Retrieved January 16, 2019 (French).