A/HRC/26/36
124.
States must make their laws on the use of force publicly available.
125. States should not use emergency situations or terrorist threats as a pretext to
erode the right to life by granting unchecked powers to use force to their law
enforcement officials.
3.
To regional bodies
126. The right to life should be a top priority for regional human rights systems. The
emerging systems should link up with the United Nations and with other regional
systems in this regard.
127. Regional bodies should engage with subregional bodies that have particular
insight into the law and practice of States in the region, with a view to bringing about
necessary law reform. Partnerships should be created to promote necessary reforms.
128. Regional bodies should monitor domestic laws on the use of force and
accountability mechanisms, and consider adopting resolutions on strengthening these
mechanisms.
4.
To National Human Rights Institutions
129. NHRIs must make the protection of the right to life a matter of priority. In this
context they must establish to what extent the domestic laws comply with
international standards, and work towards law reform where necessary.
5.
To NGOs and civil society
130. NGOs and civil society should engage with States on the applicable laws, and
use all available entry points on the international front (such as shadow reports) to
raise problems that are encountered with the status quo.
131. University-based and other researchers across societies should make the study
and teaching of the rules on the use of force a priority.
6.
To donors
132. The need to bring the domestic law in line with international standards should
be a priority for those who provide financial and other assistance to States.
III. Remotely piloted aircraft or armed drones and emerging
autonomous weapons systems
133. The mandate has engaged with the Human Rights Council and the General
Assembly on the issues raised by remotely piloted aircraft or armed drones over a number
of years,67 and has recently also done so on autonomous weapons systems (or lethal
autonomous robots (LARs)).68 While neither system has a human physically in the aircraft,
in the case of armed drones, there are at least human operators on the ground taking
decisions on who to target and when to release deadly force. Autonomous weapons systems
have not yet been deployed, but if that were to happen, these weapons platforms, once
67
68
20
A/HRC/4/20/Add.1 pp.245-246, 359; A/HRC/11/2/Add.5 p. 32; A/HRC/14/24/Add.6, paras. 79–86;
and A/HRC/20/22/Add.3 para. 81. See also General Assembly documents A/65/321; A/68/382 and
Corr. 1; A/68/389.
A/HRC/23/47 and A/65/321.
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