A/HRC/55/60 I. Introduction 1. The Model Protocol for Law Enforcement Officials to Promote and Protect Human Rights in the Context of Peaceful Protests is part of a technical and practical toolkit developed by the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, Clément Nyaletsossi Voule, in collaboration with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR),1 pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 50/21. 2. The toolkit also includes three supplementary components. Component 1 comprises detailed checklists complementing the main parts of the present Model Protocol. Component 2 contains information on the use of digital technologies by law enforcement in the context of peaceful protests. Component 3 is an outline of a handbook on facilitating peaceful protests for law enforcement officials.2 These three components of the toolkit will be made available on the web page of the Special Rapporteur.3 3. The tools are based on existing international human rights law, standards and norms and reflect recommendations and good practices collected during five regional consultations held with law enforcement practitioners and civil society representatives, a global expert consultation on digital technologies and a separate global consultation attended by representatives of States, law enforcement officials, civil society representatives, representatives of regional mechanisms and oversight mechanisms and other relevant experts. Written submissions were provided by States, national human rights institutions, members of civil society and experts. 4. Provisions in the present document are grounded, in particular, on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, general comment No. 37 (2020) on the right of peaceful assembly of the Human Rights Committee, the Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials, 4 the Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials 5 and other guiding documents, such as the United Nations Human Rights Guidance on Less-Lethal Weapons in Law Enforcement, as well as on relevant regional human rights instruments and guidance. 6 II. Objective and scope 5. The Model Protocol contains practical recommendations aimed at assisting States and their law enforcement agencies and officials in strengthening the required institutional capacity, rules, protocols, strategies and procedures and fulfilling their international human rights obligations, specifically in relation to respecting, promoting and protecting human rights while facilitating a peaceful protest. It is primarily addressed to law enforcement officials, mainly those with decision-making and command powers, at the strategic, tactical and operational levels, who handle the facilitation of peaceful assemblies, in particular protests. 1 2 3 4 5 6 2 As mandated by Human Rights Council in resolution 50/21, the toolkit was developed in collaboration with UNODC and OHCHR. The Special Rapporteur is responsible for the text produced. The handbook will be finalized by the end of 2024. https://www.ohchr.org/en/special-procedures/sr-freedom-of-assembly-and-association. General Assembly resolution 34/169. A/CONF.144/28/Rev.1, chap. I, sect. B.2. See, for example, African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Guidelines on Freedom of Association and Assembly in Africa (2017) and Guidelines for the Policing of Assemblies by Law Enforcement Officials in Africa (2017); Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression, Protest and Human Rights: Standards on the Rights Involved in Social Protest and the Obligations to Guide the Response of the State (2019); and European Commission for Democracy through Law and Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, Guidelines on Freedom of Peaceful Assembly (2019). GE.24-00845