A/HRC/31/66 41. A primary function of law enforcement, in addition to the obligation to facilitate, is protecting the safety and rights of those who participate in assemblies, as well as monitors and bystanders. 42. Law enforcement officials must be adequately trained in facilitating assemblies. This training should include proper knowledge of the legal framework governing assemblies, techniques of crowd facilitation and management, human rights in the context of assemblies and the important role assemblies play in a democratic order. Training must include soft skills such as effective communication, negotiation and mediation allowing law enforcement officials to avoid escalation of violence and minimize conflict.30 43. Use of the tactic of stop-and-search by law enforcement against individuals organizing or participating in an assembly may affect the rights to liberty and bodily security, as well as privacy. Stop-and-search must not be arbitrary and must not violate the principle of non-discrimination. It must be authorized by law, necessary and proportionate.31 The mere fact that an individual is participating in a peaceful assembly does not constitute reasonable grounds for conducting a search. 44. The authority to arrest can play an important protective function in assemblies, by allowing law enforcement to remove from an assembly individuals who are acting violently. The term “arrest” refers to any deprivation of liberty, and is not limited to formal arrest under domestic law. It is critical that arrest powers are exercised consistently with international human rights standards, including those relating to the rights to privacy, liberty, and due-process rights. 45. No one may be subject to arbitrary arrest or detention. In the context of assemblies this has particular import for the criminalization of assemblies and dissent. Arrest of protestors to prevent or punish the exercise of their right to freedom of peaceful assembly, for example on charges that are spurious, unreasonable or lack proportionality, may violate these protections. Similarly, intrusive pre-emptive measures should not be used unless a clear and present danger of imminent violence actually exists. “Mass arrest” of assembly participants often amounts to indiscriminate and arbitrary arrests. 46. Where an arrest takes place detention conditions must meet minimum standards. This applies to any location or situation in which an individual has been deprived of his or her liberty, including jails, holding cells, public spaces and vehicles used to transfer detainees, and any other location in which detainees are held. Detainees must be treated in a humane manner and with respect for their dignity, 32 and shall not be subjected to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. 47. The imposition of administrative detention is especially troubling. The Human Rights Committee has emphasized that such detention, not in contemplation of prosecution on a criminal charge, presents severe risks of arbitrary deprivation of liberty. 33 48. The issue of proportionality is particularly relevant to administrative sanctions imposed in the context of assemblies. Any penalty must not be excessive — for example, a disproportionately large fine. Such penalties raise due-process concerns, and may have a chilling effect more broadly on the exercise of the right to freedom of peaceful assembly. 30 31 32 33 See principle 20 of the Basic Principles, and OSCE/ODIHR, Guidelines, para. 147. Working group on protecting human rights while countering terrorism, Basic Human Rights Reference Guide: The Stopping and Searching of Persons (September 2010). Principle 1 of the Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment. See the Committee’s general comment No. 35 (2014) on liberty and security of person, para. 15. 11