A/HRC/17/28* including during demonstrations, is the imminent threat of death or serious injury, and such use shall be subject to the requirements of necessity and proportionality. 61. In principle shooting indiscriminately into a crowd is not allowed and may only be targeted at the person or persons constituting the threat of death or serious injury. 28 The use of firearms cannot be justified merely because a particular gathering is illegal and has to be dispersed, or to protect property. This is often not reflected in domestic laws. 62. In terms of the Code and the Basic Principles, the norm in respect of the intentional use of lethal force is the same under all circumstances, whether in self-defence, arrest, quelling a riot or any other circumstances, namely, protection of life. 63. Prevention of arbitrary killings is one component of securing the right to life; another is accountability, where killing has occurred. 29 The Code requires that a report be made promptly to the competent authorities, in every instance in which a firearm is discharged. 30 Disciplinary action should be taken where applicable. 64. While these soft law instruments have brought a considerable measure of coherence in respect of the international norms, the Basic Principles have been criticised for lacking clarity as to whether firearms may be used against people other than those presenting the threat of danger. Some of the principles are also redundant. 31 It has been pointed out that the Basic Principles do not define concepts such as “force” or “firearms”, and pose general standards, as opposed to concrete action guidelines. 32 65. Under the European Code of Police Ethics, 33 the use of force must meet the requirements of necessity and proportionality (para. 37). States of emergency and demonstrations 66. While the foregoing concern “ordinary” limitations to the right to peaceful assembly, there are also circumstances in which “extraordinary” limitations may be imposed on this and other rights, for example, through the declaration of a state of emergency, in accordance with article 4 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The right to freedom of peaceful assembly is often included in the list of rights that are suspended during states of emergency. 67. As is the case with all limitations, there is the risk that states of emergency could be misused by States seeking to suppress human rights. A number of the States in which recent demonstrations served to change the public order had already had states of emergency in place for decades. 68. While human rights law recognises that there are conditions under which states of emergencies may be declared, and certain rights can legitimately be suspended while 28 29 30 31 32 33 12 See discussion in Crawshaw et al., Human rights and policing (see para. 28, fn. 7), p. 150, on the difficult question as to whether lethal force may be used in protection of life against an individual who does not necessarily pose an imminent threat, but who is part of a group that does. See Solomou and Others v. Turkey, ECHR 368327/97 (24 September 2008). Commentary on article 3. See Crawshaw et al., Human rights and policing (see para. 28, fn. 7), p. 154. Anneke Osse, Understanding policing (Netherlands, Amnesty International, 2006), p. 129, available at www.amnesty.nl. Rec (2001) 10 adopted by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, 19 September 2001.