Best practices that promote and protect the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association 2012, para. 35
Paragraph- Paragraph text
- The right to life (art. 3 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and art. 6 of the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights) and the right to be free from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (art. 5 of the Declaration and art. 7 of the Covenant) should be the overarching principles governing the policing of public assemblies, as stated by several countries. In this regard, soft law provisions - the Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials (in particular articles 2 and 3) and the Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials (in particular principles 4, 9 and 13) - aim at guiding law enforcement officials when policing peaceful protests. In this connection, the Inter-American Court on Human Rights stated that the "pretext of maintenance of public security cannot be invoked to violate the right to life … the State must ensure that, if it is necessary to resort to physical means ... members of its armed forces and its security bodies will use only those means that are indispensable to control such situations in a rational and proportional manner, and respecting the rights to life and to humane treatment". The Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions also stated that "the only circumstances warranting the use of firearms, including during demonstrations, is the imminent threat of death or serious injury" (A/HRC/17/28, para. 60). With regard to the use of tear gas, the Special Rapporteur recalls that gas does not discriminate between demonstrators and non-demonstrators, healthy people and people with health conditions. He also warns against any modification of the chemical composition of the gas for the sole purpose of inflicting severe pain on protestors and, indirectly, bystanders.
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Means of adoption
- N.A.
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2012
- Paragraph type
- Other
- Reference
- SR Freedom of Assembly, Report to the HRC (2012), A/HRC/20/27, para. 35.
- Paragraph number
- 35
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