A/HRC/45/CRP.11 Protocol of the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT).4 It is also a party to a number of relevant regional instruments.5 As party to these treaties, Venezuela consented to be bound by the obligations articulated therein and accepted that domestic laws and practice cannot be invoked to justify a failure to comply.6 It has also agreed to engage with the United Nations treaty bodies established to monitor the implementation of the treaties and to duly consider their findings and recommendations. 25. Among the treaty provisions binding upon Venezuela are provisions related to the four human rights violations that the Mission was mandated to investigate. Extra Judicial Executions 26. Under international human rights law, the right to life is the supreme right from which no derogation is permitted, even in situations of armed conflict and other public emergencies that threaten the life of the nation.7 27. The protection of this right entails the positive obligation to ensure that no one’s life is arbitrarily deprived. The use of potentially lethal force for law enforcement purposes 8 is an extreme measure that should be resorted to only when strictly necessary in order to protect life or prevent serious injury from an imminent threat.9 28. Accordingly, the police, army, national security or anyone acting in any other public capacity, may only use firearms under limited conditions and circumstances. The use of 4 5 6 7 8 9 6 The objective of the OPCAT is to establish, mainly for preventive purposes, a system of regular visits undertaken by independent international and national bodies to places where people are deprived of their liberty. See article 1 of OPCAT: https://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/OPCAT.aspx. Venezuela adhered to the American Convention on Human Rights “Pact of San Jose, Costa Rica (B32)” on 23 June 1977. On 6 September 2012, the Government of Venezuela denounced the American Convention on Human Rights, pursuant to article 78 of the Convention. It also submitted its denunciation of the OAS Charter on 28 April 2017, an unprecedented decision in the Inter-American System. On 8 February 2019, National Assembly President Juan Guaidó submitted a note to the Secretary General of the OAS indicating the will of the Venezuelan State to remain a State Party to the OAS Charter and thus declaring invalid the denunciation made in 2012. On 9 April 2019, the Permanent Council of the OAS passed a resolution deciding to “accept the appointment of Mr. Gustavo Tarre as the National Assembly’s designated Permanent Representative, pending new elections and the appointment of a democratically elected Government”, see: https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/cp40648e09.pdf On 31 July 2019, the ratification instrument of the American Convention on Human Rights was received from the Permanent Mission of Venezuela to the OAS, see: http://www.oas.org/es/sla/ddi/docs/B32_venezuela_RA_7-31-2019.pdf. Venezuela is also a party to: Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture (A-51), 25 June 1991; Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights to Abolish the Death Penalty (A-53), 6 April 1994; Inter-American Convention on the Prevention, Punishment and Eradication of Violence Against Women “Convention of Belém do Pará” (A-61), 16 January 1995; Inter-American Convention on the Forced Disappearance of Persons (A60), 6 July 1998. 1999 Constitution, art. 23. See also Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, art. 27. The right to life is protected under ICCPR, art. 6(1); CRC, art. 6; CRPD, art. 10; as well as in UDHR, art. 3. See also Human Rights Committee, General comment No. 36, para. 2 (CCPR/C/GC/36), 3 September 2019. The conduct of the security forces is governed, among other things, by the Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials (1979, Code of Conduct) and the Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials (1989, Basic Principles). These instruments, and in particular their provisions on the use of force as they relate to the right to life and physical integrity in particular—article 3 of the Code of Conduct and principle 9 of the Basic Principles—are relied upon as authoritative by regional courts. See, for example, Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Montero-Aranguren et al. (Detention Center of Catia) v. Venezuela, 5 July 2005, IACtHR Ser. C No. 150, paras. 68-69; Zambrano Vélez et al. v. Ecuador, 4 July 2007, IACtHR Ser. C. No. 166, para. 84. See also the Revised United Nations Manual on the Effective Prevention and Investigation of Extralegal, Arbitrary and Summary Executions (Minnesota Protocol on the Investigation of Potentially Unlawful Death) See also Commentary to the Code of Conduct: https://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/LawEnforcementOfficials.aspx. See Code of Conduct, commentary to art. 3 and Basic Principles, principle 9.