In 2006 the European Union (EU) introduced the world’s first multilateral trade controls to prohibit the international trade in equipment that has no other practical purpose than for capital punishment, torture and other ill-treatment; and to control the trade in a range of policing and security equipment frequently misused for such ill-treatment. This report, written jointly by Amnesty International and the Omega Research Foundation (Omega), seeks to facilitate and inform an EU-led process currently assessing the implementation and effectiveness of EC Regulation 1236/2005.