A/HRC/34/30 I. Introduction 1. In its resolution 31/30, the Human Rights Council, inter alia, strongly condemned all terrorist acts as criminal and unjustifiable, and expressed concern at their detrimental effects on the enjoyment of human rights, including the right to life, liberty and security of person, as stipulated in article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In the same resolution, the Council reaffirmed that civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights were universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated, as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The Council also reaffirmed the primary responsibility of States in preventing and countering terrorism in all its forms and manifestations in the territory under their jurisdiction, in full compliance with their international law obligations. The Council urged States, while countering terrorism, to respect and protect all human rights, bearing in mind that certain counter-terrorism measures may have an impact on the enjoyment of those rights. 2. In resolution 31/30, the Council requested the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to submit to it, at its thirty-fourth session, a report on the negative effects of terrorism on the enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms, particularly the right to life, liberty and security of person, while paying particular attention to best practices and major challenges in this regard. 3. For the present report, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) sought inputs from Member States, through their Permanent Missions in Geneva and New York; international and regional organizations; national human rights institutions; and non-governmental organizations, through notes verbales sent on 25 July 2016. Contributions were received from 15 Member States, 8 national human rights institutions, 2 international and/or regional organizations and 15 non-governmental organizations. A dedicated web page1 has been created in order to make the contributions available for public consultation. The report was also informed by the work of relevant United Nations treaty bodies and special procedure mandates, international and regional human rights mechanisms and OHCHR, bearing in mind the specific reference to these entities by the Council in paragraph 16 of resolution 31/30. II. International human rights framework 4. International human rights law requires States to protect human rights with due diligence, which entails the obligation to prevent and sanction harm, including deprivation of life, caused not only by their own agents but also by acts of private persons or entities. 2 Referring to the positive obligations of States parties to ensure rights under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Human Rights Committee specified that these obligations “will only be fully discharged if individuals are protected by the State, not just against violations of Covenant rights by its agents, but also against acts committed by private persons or entities that would impair the enjoyment of Covenant rights in so far as they are amenable to application between private persons or entities”. 3 For example, the 1 2 3 2 www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/RuleOfLaw/Pages/Terrorism.aspx. See European Court of Human Rights, Osman v. the United Kingdom (87/1997/871/1083), judgment of 28 October 1998, para. 116. See Human Rights Committee, general comment No. 31 (2004) on the nature of the general legal obligations imposed on States parties to the Covenant, para. 8.

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