A/HRC/42/CRP.1
411. International human rights law guarantees to everyone the right to liberty and
security of person.631 Such rights are violated when individuals are arbitrarily detained, as
well as when they are subject to torture or other forms of ill-treatment. Considered as
arbitrary are deprivations of liberty that are contrary to international law provisions, mostly
those that do not feature a valid ground for detention, and those cases of detention where
the rights to a fair trial and other procedural guarantees are violated to such an extent that it
renders the detention arbitrary.632 These procedural guarantees are articulated in Articles 9
and 14 of the ICCPR and include the obligation to inform a person arrested of the reasons
for the arrest633; the obligation to bring a person arrested on a criminal charge promptly
before a judge634 and the obligation to provide the person in detention with an opportunity
to challenge the lawfulness of the detention (right of defence). 635 Arbitrary detention is also
prohibited under international humanitarian law; depriving a person of the right to a fair
trial may constitute a war crime in a non-international armed conflict.636
412. The Group of Experts found reasonable grounds to believe that the de facto
authorities arbitrarily detained journalists, media workers, and those expressing their
opposition to the de facto authorities. In these cases, the detention was arbitrary in that the
basis for detention was related to the exercise of fundamental freedoms, or the detention
lacked any actual grounds. In most cases, detention also appears to be motivated by
discriminatory grounds, including religion, political or other opinion. Detention based on
discriminatory grounds is per se also considered as arbitrary.637 In several cases described
above, the detention is also arbitrary due to violations of essential fair trial rights, most
notably through long pre-trial detention without being presented to a prosecutor or judge,
undue delays in trial, limited or lack of access to legal counsel and the use of confessions
extracted under duress. In addition, the Group of Experts has serious concerns about the
validity of the charges on which the 10 journalists are held and the denial of a fair and
independent judicial process. In one documented case, a journalist remains detained
without grounds, despite a release order from the general prosecutor. Denial of fair trial
may possibly lead to individual criminal responsibility.
Enforced disappearances
413. The right to liberty and security of person is also violated through enforced
disappearance, which are prohibited by both international human rights law and
international humanitarian law.638 Enforced disappearance may also be a violation of the
prohibition on torture.
414. In Sana’a, a network of facilities has been used to disappear individuals, keeping
them away from any judicial oversight, as well as from their relatives. The Group of
Experts has reasonable grounds to believe that the de facto authorities have used enforced
disappearance against individuals in the territories under their control, in violation of their
631
Article 9 ICCPR.
ICCPR, articles 9 and 14; see also Human Rights Committee general comment No. 35 (2011) on
liberty and security of person; and the Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any
Form of Detention or Imprisonment (A/RES/43/173); The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has
identified five legal categories relating to arbitrary detention: (a) when there is no legal basis for the
deprivation of liberty, (b) when the deprivation of liberty results from the exercise of fundamental
freedoms, (c) when the violations of norms relating to the right to a fair trial are of such gravity as to
give the deprivation of liberty an arbitrary character, (d) when migrants are subjected to prolonged
administrative custody without the possibility of administrative or judicial review or remedy, and (e)
when the deprivation of liberty reflects discrimination, notably based on birth, national, ethnic or
social origin, language, religion and political or other opinion (see Methods of work of the Working
Group on Arbitrary Detention, A/HRC/36/38).
633 Article 9 (2) ICCPR.
634 Article 9 (3) ICCPR.
635 Article 9 (4) ICCPR.
636 See ICRC Study on customary IHL, rules 99 and 100.
637 See Methods of work of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, A/HRC/36/38.
638 Article 9 ICCPR and Article 1 International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from
Enforced Disappearance (CED); see ICRC Study on customary IHL, rule 98.
632
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