MINNESOTA ADVOCATES FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
310 Fourth Avenue South, #1000, Minneapolis, MN 55415-1012 USA
Tel. 612/341-3302 Fax 612/341-2971, Email: hrights@mnadvocates.org
Main Website: www.mnadvocates.org
Minnesota Advocates’ Website of Sub-Commission 2004 developments: http://www.projecteleanor.com/2004
10 August 2004
Thank you Mr. Chairman.
We would like to comment on the progress report of Ms Barbara Frey on the prevention of human rights violations committed with small arms and light weapons, and in particular on the draft principles included in Addendum 1 to her report. The principles are entitled “Draft principles on the prevention of human rights violations committed with small arms”. They are intended for use by law enforcement agencies and other government agencies where officials are authorized to carry and use small arms in connection with their official duties. We urge the Sub-Commission to review and adopt these principles.
These draft principles aim to present clear standards to give meaning to the non-derogable right to life. Experience shows that police training on human rights principles can minimize the role of firearms and decrease the deaths and injuries that would otherwise result. We welcome the discussion yesterday between the expert members of the Sub-Commission suggesting that the scope of the guidelines also be expanded to include licensing and trafficking topics.
The right to life is violated in many countries with impunity by law enforcement and security officials who act without adequate direction or training regarding human rights. Examples of violations by law enforcement and security agents include arbitrary and summary executions, excessive use of force, and violent responses to demonstrations.
We have listened with interest to the deliberations of the Sub-Commission this year as it has evaluated the value of its ongoing work under several of its agenda items, and in particular to the two part test Mr. Salama has proposed in several of his statements – namely, where is the human rights angle and where is the value added? We believe these draft principles solidly meet both criteria. While some principles on use of force and firearms currently exist within the U.N. criminal justice framework, these proposed principles on small arms bring together within one cohesive document standards on prevention, training, small arms storage, operational planning and investigation.
This approach, first, highlights the primacy of human rights in all decisions and actions carried out by state agents; second, complements the existing framework established by the UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice; and third, adds weight to the call for the adoption and implementation of effective national standards to prevent human rights violations committed with small arms.
We believe these principles will be useful in the field, in NGO grass roots work to improve law enforcement practices in their communities, and as benchmarks from which special human rights mechanisms of the UN can inquire of states concerning their programs and policies on training programs for law enforcement officials. In particular we would like to emphasize that in order to fulfill its human rights obligations, in particular, the non-derogable obligation to protect individuals from arbitrary killing and torture, states must not authorize any agent to carry a weapon unless that person has received adequate human rights training. If a law enforcement or security official is going to be entrusted with carrying a deadly weapon in the scope of his or her duties, then there should be human rights training of that official before he or she is given such a weapon to use. Human rights training reduces the loss of life. This is a concrete, practical approach to protecting and promoting human rights. It has an important human rights angle and it can add real value to the other weapons and law enforcement-related standards and programs in the field.
Minnesota Advocates is especially pleased that the draft principles include as Principle 9 a requirement to establish effective reporting and investigative procedures to ensure that all incidents involving the misuse of small arms by state agents are promptly reviewed by independent and competent authorities. This principle recognizes that the prohibition on arbitrary killing by state agents includes the requirement to establish a thorough, prompt and impartial procedure for investigating the lawfulness of the use of lethal force by state authorities. The right to life would indeed be ineffective without such a procedure.
We also have a special interest in this field because of our work in 1988 and 1989 with various UN bodies culminating in 1989 with the successful adoption by ECOSOC of the UN Principles on the Effective Prevention and Investigation of Extra-Legal, Arbitrary and Summary Executions. Those principles were immediately used in the field by NGOs, special rapporteurs and other human rights mechanisms to inquire about suspicious deaths in custody, and to permit easy reference to a simple, compact, and straightforward statement of the relevant international human rights standards pertaining to the problem at hand.
We believe these draft principles which are included in Mrs. Frey’s report on small arms and light weapons can have a similar concrete impact. Minnesota Advocates is also pleased that the Working Group on the Administration of Justice gave initial attention to these principles and encourages further review at next year’s session of the Working Group.
In conclusion Mr. Chairman, police use of force and firearms remains a core human rights issue, relevant to many other issues this Sub-Commission is considering. The Sub-Commission should therefore raise the primacy of human rights within the field of policing and security by reviewing and adopting these principles.
Thank you Mr. Chairman.