A/HRC/35/8 IV. Legal framework 19. In its resolution 32/12, the Human Rights Council recalled the principles and provisions relating to international human rights law and international humanitarian law, and to the promotion of responsible action by States, as contained in the Arms Trade Treaty, as well as in other relevant instruments. The present section outlines the principles of due diligence and the responsibility for aiding or assisting in the commission of an internationally wrongful act in international human rights law and public international law, respectively, before discussing, in brief, the international and regional arms transfer regimes and guidance from international human rights mechanisms. A. Principles of due diligence and responsibility for aiding or assisting 20. International human rights law provides for the principle of due diligence, by which a State may be held responsible for its failure to take reasonable steps to prevent, investigate, punish and ensure reparations for human rights violations and abuses committed by private persons or entities, including companies and non-State armed groups.43 21. In public international law more generally, and as articulated in article 16 of the International Law Commission’s draft articles on responsibility of States for internationally wrongful acts, a “State which aids or assists another State in the commission of an internationally wrongful act by the latter is internationally responsible for doing so if: (a) that State does so with knowledge of the circumstances of the internationally wrongful act; and (b) the act would be internationally wrongful if committed by that State.” 44 In line with that provision, a State that transfers arms with knowledge that the arms will aid or assist another State to commit a serious violation of international human rights law may be held responsible for failing to exercise due diligence by taking the necessary preventive measures. 22. In its commentary to the draft articles on responsibility of States for internationally wrongful acts, the International Law Commission expressly considered the issue of arms transfer:45 a State may incur responsibility if it assists another State to circumvent sanctions imposed by the Security Council or provides material aid to a State that uses the aid to commit human rights violations. In this respect, the General Assembly has called on Member States in a number of cases to refrain from supplying arms and other military assistance to countries found to be committing serious human rights violations. Where the allegation is that the assistance of a State has facilitated human 43 44 45 See, for example, Human Rights Committee general comment No. 31 (2004) on the nature of the general legal obligation imposed on States parties to the Covenant, para. 8, and Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights general comments No. 14 (2000) on the right to the highest attainable standard of health, para. 51, and No. 15 (2002) on the right to water, para. 31. See also Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Velasquez-Rodriguez v. Honduras, judgment of 29 July 1998, paras. 172 and 174; European Court of Human Rights, Akkoç v. Turkey, judgment of 10 October 2000, paras. 77-78; the preliminary report of the Special Rapporteur on the prevention of human rights violations committed with small arms and light weapons (E/CN.4/Sub.2/2003/29), paras. 36-43; and European Court of Human Rights, Tugar v. Italy, decision on admissibility of 18 October 1995. Moreover, the Human Rights Committee, in its draft general comment on the right to life, has suggested that the transfer of weapons may fall within the scope of article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The International Court of Justice has held that article 16 has attained the status of customary international law. Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Bosnia and Herzegovina v. Serbia and Montenegro), Judgment, I.C.J. Reports 2007, p. 43, para. 147. Paragraph (9) of the commentary to draft article 16 of the draft articles on responsibility of States for internationally wrongful acts Yearbook of the International Law Commission, 2001, vol. II (Part Two), p. 67. 7