25/06/2010 Session
Strasbourg, 25.06.2010 – The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has called for a ban on all acoustic devices which discriminate against young people, such as the Mosquito “youth dispersal” device which emits a powerful sound signal audible to almost everybody under 20, but few over 25, in order to prevent young people from loitering.
In a recommendation unanimously adopted today, based on a report by Piotr Wach (Poland, EPP/CD), the Assembly – which brings together parliamentarians from the 47 member states of the Council of Europe – said the “highly offensive” device discriminates against young people, treating them as if they are “unwanted birds or pests”.
It could also breach human rights, such as the rights to private life or freedom of assembly, the parliamentarians said, and may constitute degrading treatment because it inflicts “acoustic pain”.
It is thought around 3,500 of the Mosquito devices are in use in the United Kingdom, though it is also used or marketed in Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands and Switzerland.
The Assembly called on governments, parliaments and local authorities to ban the device, and others like it, in public places. Marketing or selling it for private use should also be prohibited – or at least its use on private premises should be accompanied by clear warnings.
In its recommendation, the Assembly also called for the promotion, in consultation with youth forums at the local level, of more indoor and outdoor physical, intellectual and leisure recreation facilities for young people.