In France it cost lives: Basel police used controversial ammunition

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Thun manufacturer B&T advertises the rubber bullets recently used in Basel as “less lethal.” The cantonal police of Basel-Stadt had used it to shoot at members of the Basel Nazi-Free Alliance. The approximately 100 people took a demonstration by the opponents of Mass-Voll and the Friends of the Constitution as an opportunity for a counter-demonstration. Upon request, the Basel-Stadt cantonal police confirmed the events.

We are talking about so-called flashball ammunition, originally a brand name popularly used for such rubber ammunition. These are rubber bullets measuring 40 by 46 millimeters. They are made of soft, foamed plastic and resemble a golf ball. Unlike conventional rubber shot, which is fired without aim, the flashball ammunition-loaded weapons are aimed at individuals.

The human rights commissioner calls for a ban

Flashball weapons are commonly categorized as non-lethal. The “powerful shot” roughly corresponds to a “hard, precise punch,” B&T writes on its website. “Computationally and practically” there is no penetration into the body. The manufacturer specifically recommends no shots to the neck or head.

Because the target people often move, especially during demonstrations, its use can also lead to unintended hits. On the occasion of the yellow vest protests in France, Dunja Mijatović, Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, strongly condemned the use of such ammunition by the French police. In her note, she states that by early February 2019, 12,122 flashball shots had been fired and that there had been 193 cases of injury, including many head injuries. She called for a temporary ban on hard rubber bullets.

There have even been deaths resulting from the use of flashball ammunition. In 2010, a 40-year-old went into cardiac and respiratory arrest after being hit in the chest by a flashball bullet. Although he was resuscitated, he died in hospital a day later. In 2023, an uninvolved 27-year-old father was shot in the chest during riots in France, probably by flash-bang ammunition. He collapsed dead on the spot. The responsible public prosecutor’s office has opened a procedure.

In use in Bern since 2021

B&T in 2019 referenced a 2008 University of Bern report on the danger of their flashball system, describing the ammunition as “safe at close range.” It was never published, but is available for the daily newspaper “Der Bund”. Although open wounds and broken fingers can be ruled out, at a distance of up to 30 meters, liver lacerations, broken sternum and fractures of the facial skull cannot be ruled out. Rib fractures and irreversible eye damage can occur even at a distance of 60 meters, “Der Bund” quotes the 2019 report. The reason: the Bern Kapo was carrying out a pilot project with flash bullet ammunition at that time. According to a study, they have been using the projectiles across the board since 2021.

According to Kapo Basel-Stadt, flashball ammunition has only been used twice in demonstrations in the past six months. The Basilisk special forces personnel who carry these weapons during operations receive regular training. Only the torso and limbs are targeted. It is not possible to comment on the deaths in France because it is not known which ammunition was used.

Source:Blick