A/HRC/34/42 against women; ensure the protection of refugees against refoulement; and include references to the prohibition on torture; fair trial guarantees; abolition of or restrictions on the use of the death penalty; and guarantees of freedom of religion, belief, opinion and expression. While not in full compliance with international human rights standards, the April draft included some improvements in the areas of discrimination against women, the prohibition on torture, freedom of association and freedom from servitude, slavery and human trafficking. 60. A dispute over whether the Assembly adopted the draft with a sufficient number of votes is impeding next steps towards approval in a national referendum. UNSMIL continues to reach out to those who are boycotting the Assembly to facilitate agreement on a draft constitution. C. Libyan Political Agreement 61. There has been little progress in implementing the administration of justice and rule of law provisions of the Libyan Political Agreement. Implementation would address many concerns regarding impunity and abuses committed by armed groups. The Agreement requires that armed groups release or hand over to the judicial authorities persons held in custody without a legal basis; that judicial authorities bring those persons before the judiciary or release them; and that the competent judicial authorities provide effective protection. The Agreement also provides for the judicial authorities to be given exclusive power to hold detainees and prisoners and for the authority to arrest and detain to be strictly limited to statutory law enforcement bodies. 6 The Presidency Council is yet to make progress on implementation of these provisions. On a related issue, on 9 May the Presidency Council issued a decision to establish a presidential guard, a military and police force with the task of securing the Presidency Council and public facilities. It appointed a commander for the presidential guard in August. D. Arbitrary detention, deprivation of liberty, torture and other illtreatment 62. International human rights law prohibits arbitrary arrest or detention.7 Detention is arbitrary if it is not in accordance with national law, or is otherwise inappropriate, unjust, unreasonable, or unnecessary in the circumstances.8 A detained person has a range of due process rights, including the right to be brought before a judicial authority and to a trial within a reasonable period or release. 9 In April, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention adopted two opinions, finding in one case that a 65-year-old woman 6 7 8 9 12 See articles 26 (2), (3) and (4) and 44. See the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, art. 9 (1) and Human Rights Committee, general comment No. 35 (2014) on liberty and security of person. See also the procedural safeguards for persons in detention under the Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment, adopted by the General Assembly in its resolution 43/173. The circumstances in which the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention considers that deprivation of liberty is arbitrary is set out in OHCHR fact sheet No. 26, section IV B. The Human Rights Committee clarified that the meaning of the term “arbitrary” must be interpreted “broadly to include elements of inappropriateness, injustice and lack of predictability” in communication No. 305/1998, Hugo van Alphen v. Netherlands, Views adopted by the Human Rights Committee on 23 July 1990, para. 5.8. See the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, art. 9 (3). Article 9 outlines other due process rights that relate to arrest and detention.