A/HRC/31/66
49.
Practical recommendations:
(a)
States should promote diversity in law enforcement, so that communities
see themselves in the police. This requires a sufficiently representative body with the
inclusion of women and minority groups;
(b)
States should implement consistent planning approaches for all
assemblies that follow a model based on assessing threat and risk and that incorporate
human rights laws and standards as well as ethics;
(c)
Public authorities, including law enforcement, must be able to evidence
their attempts to genuinely engage with assembly organizers and/or participants of
assemblies;
(d)
Law enforcement agencies should ensure there is an accessible point of
contact within the organization before, during and after an assembly. The point of
contact should be trained in communication and conflict management skills and
respond to security issues and police conduct as well as to substantive demands and
views expressed by the participants. The liaison function should be separate from
other policing functions;
(e)
States and law enforcement bodies should ensure that post-event
debriefing mechanisms for assemblies are established permanently to facilitate
learning and ensure the protection of rights;
(f)
Law enforcement should cooperate with stewards, where organizers
choose to arrange them for an assembly. Stewards should be clearly identifiable and
should receive appropriate training and briefing. Authorities should not require
organizers to provide stewards;
(g)
Intrusive anticipatory measures should not be used in an assembly.
Participants on their way to an assembly should not be stopped, searched or arrested
unless there is a clear and present danger of imminent violence.
E.
Force shall not be used unless it is strictly unavoidable, and if applied it
must be done in accordance with international human rights law
50.
States and their law enforcement agencies and officials are obligated under
international law to respect and protect, without discrimination, the rights of all those who
participate in assemblies, as well as monitors and bystanders.34 The normative framework
governing the use of force includes the principles of legality, precaution, necessity,
proportionality and accountability.
51.
The principle of legality requires that States develop a domestic legal framework for
the use of force, especially potentially lethal force, that complies with international
standards (see A/HRC/26/36, para. 56). The normative framework should specifically
restrict the use of weapons and tactics during assemblies, including protests, and include a
formal approval and deployment process for weaponry and equipment. 35
34
35
12
The conduct of law enforcement officials is governed, inter alia, by human rights law, the Code of
Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials and the Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by
Law Enforcement Officials. See also the Principles on the Effective Prevention and Investigation of
Extra-legal, Arbitrary and Summary Executions.
See, for example, Amnesty International, Use of Force: Guidelines for Implementation of the UN
Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials (2015), p. 46.
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