A/HRC/11/2
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Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials,62 though not in and of themselves binding law, provide
an authoritative and convincing interpretation of the limits the prohibition on arbitrary
deprivation of life places on the conduct of law-enforcement forces. The Basic Principles also
provide further and more specific guidance on the use of force in the context of policing
assemblies.63 These principles derive from the interaction between the right to peaceful assembly
and the right to life.
63. The principles contained in the various international obligations should in turn be reflected
in the policy and operational documents adopted at the national level. While States retain
significant discretion in the specific approach they adopt, international human rights law points
in the direction of a range of measures which should be adopted in this regard. They include:
(a) the implementation of a legal framework designed to ensure both effective law enforcement
and respect for human rights, including the right to peaceful assembly; (b) the provision of
training for law-enforcement personnel focusing on both theory and practice; (c) operational
policies and procedures to assist and guide law enforcement in controlling assemblies within the
legal framework; and (d) disciplinary and other sanctions designed to promote compliance. The
combination of measures ensuring the best possible balance will vary according to the structure
of policing and other factors from one State to another.
2. The need for a set of best practices
64. The Basic Principles provide an indispensable guide to the main issues that need to be
addressed if a State is to respect and ensure the right of individuals not to be arbitrarily deprived
of their lives.64 The Basic Principles do not, however, provide the sort of operational guidance
which would be of great assistance to police forces and Governments in designing and
implementing their policies for dealing with such situations. In order to shed systematic light on
these issues, I propose to survey existing practices for the policing of assemblies by
law-enforcement officials, including consultation with relevant stakeholders, with a view to
identifying a set of best practices that might provide assistance and guidance in relation to such
activities.
65. Potential areas of study might include training of law-enforcement officials; planning for
assemblies; the use of intelligence in policing assemblies; operational policies; intervention by
law-enforcement, including use of force, dispersal, stop and search, detention and arrest;
post-incident debriefing; the use of legal support; and liability and accountability. I plan to
present the results of this research to the Council in the course of 2010.
62
Adopted at the Eighth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment
of Offenders, Havana, from 27 August to 7 September 1990.
63
The Basic Principles distinguish between lawful and unlawful assemblies. A further
distinction is made between unlawful non-violent assemblies and unlawful violent assemblies.
64
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, arts. 2 and 6.
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