A/HRC/20/14
be made, where appropriate, for joint legal presentation; (iv) victims and their
families should enjoy the right to free interpretation.
(f)
Where a decision is taken not to initiate a criminal prosecution the
competent prosecuting authority should give reasons for its decision, and States should
allow victims of terrorism the opportunity to challenge the decision before an
independent court or tribunal, or other comparable authority.
(g)
Where victims of terrorism have given information to the authorities, or
are called upon to provide testimony during a prosecution, their rights to life, physical
security and privacy must be fully protected, subject to safeguards to ensure that any
protective measures adopted are compatible with the accused person's right to a fair
and public hearing under article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights.
(h)
Criminal proceedings, including the exhaustion of any ordinary appeal
procedures, should be conducted with reasonable expedition.
(i)
The right of victims of terrorism to privacy and respect for their family
life should be protected against unjustified intrusion by the media. Personal
information must also be protected against unnecessary disclosure to the public in the
course of judicial proceedings.
(j)
Victims of terrorism have the right to form representative organizations
whose rights to freedom of association and expression must be fully guaranteed.
Where any restriction is imposed, such organizations should have unimpeded access
to an independent and impartial court or tribunal with power to overturn the
restriction. In addition, States are under a positive duty to secure the rights of such
organizations against reprisals or other forms of unlawful interference by non-State
actors.
(k)
Where a public official is directly or indirectly responsible for a violation
of the right to life in the context of an act or threatened act of terrorism, the State is
already bound as a matter of international law to make reparation to the victim.
(l)
The Special Rapporteur urges all States to recognize an international
obligation (already recognized by many States) to provide reparation where death or
serious injury results from an act of terrorism committed on their territory. Full and
effective reparation should include, as appropriate, restitution, compensation,
rehabilitation, satisfaction and guarantees of non-repetition. Reparation schemes
should make provision for financial compensation and a considered programme of
medical and social rehabilitation.
(m) States should actively consider whether to legislate to prohibit the sale or
marketing of life insurance policies that contain a exclusion for deaths resulting from
acts of terrorism.
(n)
The Special Rapporteur urges States involved in unresolved conflicts in
which one or more parties to the conflict are designated as a terrorist organization,
and where acts of violence are committed against the civilian population, to make
greater use of the United Nations mechanisms for conflict prevention, negotiation,
mediation, conciliation, peacekeeping and peacebuilding.
68.
The Special Rapporteur recommends that the Counter-Terrorism
Implementation Task Force (CTITF) commission empirical research into the question
of whether and to what extent economic, social, political and educational exclusion
should be recognized by the General Assembly as conditions conducive to the spread
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