A/HRC/19/40 activities, should be decriminalized; (g) a sub-section of security forces within a country should be trained specifically on how to respond to protests and perform crowd management in a peaceful manner that was in conformity with international human rights standards; (h) any detention of those involved in activities associated with peaceful protests and other forms of public demonstration should only be performed by civil security forces for the purposes of personal and public safety and only for a duration required in order to guarantee such safety, and no more than 24 hours. In all instances in which those participating in protests or demonstrations were detained for criminal offences, they should be granted access to a qualified lawyer and full due process guarantees before a representative of the judiciary of the civil authority; (i) the terms public safety, public order and public health should be clearly and unambiguously defined within the laws of a country and should be in accordance with international standards of human rights; (j) in instances where riot gear and military hardware were used by Government security forces to systematically commit human rights violations against individuals participating in public demonstrations and protests, other States and private companies that provided such equipment should immediately cease providing that equipment to a violating Government, and any contractual obligations to that effect should be suspended; (k) bilateral and multilateral aid and assistance between States should be specifically conditional on the full respect for freedom of assembly and association, and strong safeguards should be put in place to ensure such aid was in no way used by recipient Governments to supplement their ability to carry out large-scale repression of these rights, especially during times of largescale peaceful protests; (l) the widespread blocking of basic systems of communication and commerce, including the Internet, mobile and landline phone services, satellite channels and other media should be prohibited. The criminal liability of companies that were involved in such practices should be made clear in national penal systems; and (m) all instances of incitement to violence, hate, xenophobia and discrimination within the media should be combated. Instances of incitement to violence should be prohibited on State-run media sources. III. Summary of the discussion 40. Most delegations thanked OHCHR, Switzerland and the co-sponsors3 of decision 17/120 for convening this panel discussion. The delegations further thanked the President of Maldives, the Deputy High Commissioner and the panellists for their presentations. Several delegations stressed the timeliness of the panel discussion, mentioning the recent and unfolding events in the Arab region, but also in the rest of the world. A. Issues raised by stakeholders 41. Several delegations emphasized the cross-cutting dimension of the issue of peaceful protests, which was intricately connected to the exercise of the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly, freedom of expression, freedom of association, freedom of thought/conscience and religion, and the right to participate in the affairs of the State. Peaceful protests were further linked to the promotion of good governance and the rule of 3 12 Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Maldives, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Palestine, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Somalia, Spain, Sweden, Timor-Leste, Turkey, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States of America.