From the Report of the Third Committee A/65/456/Add.2 (Part II)

Draft resolution III
Extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions

The General Assembly,
Recalling the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,1 which guarantees the
right to life, liberty and security of person, the relevant provisions of the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights2 and other relevant human
rights conventions,
Reaffirming the mandate of the Special Rapporteur of the Human Rights
Council on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, as set out in Council
resolution 8/3 of 18 June 2008,3
Welcoming the universal ratification of the Geneva Conventions of 12 August
1949,4 which alongside human rights law provide an important framework of
accountability in relation to extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions during
armed conflict,
Mindful of all its resolutions on the subject of extrajudicial, summary or
arbitrary executions and the resolutions of the Commission on Human Rights and of
the Human Rights Council on the subject,
Noting with deep concern that impunity continues to be a major cause of the
perpetuation of violations of human rights, including extrajudicial, summary or
arbitrary executions,
Acknowledging that international human rights law and international
humanitarian law are complementary and mutually reinforcing,
Noting with deep concern the growing number of civilians and persons hors de
combat killed in situations of armed conflict and internal strife,
Acknowledging that extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions may under
certain circumstances amount to genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes,
as defined in international law, including in the Rome Statute of the International
Criminal Court,5 and recalling in this regard that each individual State has the
responsibility to protect its populations from such crimes as set out in General
Assembly resolutions 60/1 of 16 September 2005 and 63/308 of 14 September 2009,
Convinced of the need for effective action to prevent, combat and eliminate the
abhorrent practice of extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, which
represent flagrant violations of human rights or a negative impact on the enjoyment
of human rights, particularly the right to life,

1. Strongly condemns once again all the extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary
executions that continue to occur throughout the world;
2. Demands that all States ensure that the practice of extrajudicial, summary
or arbitrary executions is brought to an end and that they take effective action to
prevent, combat and eliminate the phenomenon in all its forms and manifestations;
3. Reiterates the obligation of all States to conduct exhaustive and impartial
investigations into all suspected cases of extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary
executions, to identify and bring to justice those responsible, while ensuring the
right of every person to a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent and
impartial tribunal established by law, to grant adequate compensation within a
reasonable time to the victims or their families, and to adopt all necessary measures,
including legal and judicial measures, to put an end to impunity and to prevent the
further occurrence of such executions, as recommended in the Principles on the
Effective Prevention and Investigation of Extralegal, Arbitrary and Summary
Executions;6
4. Calls upon Governments and invites intergovernmental and
non-governmental organizations to pay greater attention to the work of national
level commissions of inquiry into extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions
with a view to ensuring the effective contribution of these commissions to
accountability and to combating impunity;
5. Calls upon all States, in order to prevent extrajudicial, summary and
arbitrary executions, to comply with their obligations under relevant provisions of
international human rights instruments, and further calls upon States which retain
the death penalty to pay particular regard to the provisions contained in articles 6,
14 and 15 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights2 and articles
37 and 40 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child,7 bearing in mind the
safeguards and guarantees set out in Economic and Social Council resolutions
1984/50 of 25 May 1984 and 1989/64 of 24 May 1989, and taking into account the
recommendations of the Special Rapporteur of the Human Rights Council on
extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions regarding the need to respect
essential procedural guarantees, including the right to seek pardon or commutation
of sentence;
6. Urges all States:
(a) To take all measures required by international human rights law and
international humanitarian law to prevent loss of life, in particular that of children,
during public demonstrations, internal and communal violence, civil unrest, public
emergencies or armed conflicts, and to ensure that the police, law enforcement
agents, armed forces and other agents acting on behalf of or with the consent or
acquiescence of the State act with restraint and in conformity with international
human rights law and international humanitarian law, including the principles of
proportionality and necessity, and in this regard to ensure that police and law
enforcement officials are guided by the Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement
Officials8 and the Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law
Enforcement Officials;9
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 (b) To ensure the effective protection of the right to life of all persons under
their jurisdiction and to investigate promptly and thoroughly all killings, including
those targeted at specific groups of persons, such as racially motivated violence
leading to the death of the victim, killings of persons belonging to national or
ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, killings of persons affected by terrorism
or hostage-taking or living under foreign occupation, killings of refugees, internally
displaced persons, migrants, street children or members of indigenous communities,
killings of persons for reasons related to their activities as human rights defenders,
lawyers, journalists or demonstrators, killings committed in the name of passion or
in the name of honour, all killings committed for discriminatory reasons on any
basis as well as all other cases where a person’s right to life has been violated, and
to bring those responsible to justice before a competent, independent and impartial
judiciary at the national or, where appropriate, international level, and to ensure that
such killings, including those committed by security forces, police and law
enforcement agents, paramilitary groups or private forces, are neither condoned nor
sanctioned by State officials or personnel;
7. Affirms the obligation of States, in order to prevent extrajudicial,
summary or arbitrary executions, to protect the lives of all persons deprived of their
liberty in all circumstances and to investigate and respond to deaths in custody;
8. Urges all States to ensure that persons deprived of their liberty are
treated humanely and with full respect for their human rights and to ensure that their
treatment, including judicial guarantees, and conditions conform to the Standard
Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners10 and, where applicable, to the
Geneva Conventions of 12 August 19494 and the Additional Protocols thereto, of
8 June 197711 in relation to all persons detained in armed conflict, as well as to
other pertinent international instruments;
9. Urges States to prevent and, where such situations exist, to end prisoner
control of prisons, bearing in mind the obligation of the State to protect human
rights, including the protection against extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary
executions;
10. Welcomes the International Criminal Court as an important contribution
to ending impunity concerning extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, and,
taking note of the growing awareness of the Court worldwide, calls upon those
States that are under an obligation to cooperate with the Court to provide such
cooperation and assistance in the future, in particular with regard to arrest and
surrender, the provision of evidence, the protection and relocation of victims and
witnesses and the enforcement of sentences, and further welcomes the fact that one
hundred and fourteen States have already ratified or acceded to and one hundred and
thirty-nine States have signed the Rome Statute of the Court,5 and calls upon all
those States that have not ratified or acceded to the Rome Statute to give serious
consideration to doing so;
11. Acknowledges the importance of ensuring the protection of witnesses for
the prosecution of those suspected of extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions,
and urges States to intensify efforts to establish and implement effective witness 
protection programmes or other measures, and in this regard encourages the Office
of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to develop practical
tools designed to encourage and facilitate greater attention to the protection of
witnesses;
12. Encourages Governments and intergovernmental and non-governmental
organizations to organize training programmes and to support projects with a view
to training or educating military forces, law enforcement officers and government
officials in human rights and humanitarian law issues connected with their work and
to include a gender and child rights perspective in such training, and appeals to the
international community and requests the Office of the High Commissioner to
support endeavours to that end;
13. Expresses its concern about the occurrence of vigilante killings around
the globe, encourages States, in order to support efforts to prevent and end such
killings, to undertake or facilitate systematic studies of the phenomenon, with a
view to taking context-specific measures and focused action, and requests the Office
of the High Commissioner and other relevant United Nations entities, upon request,
to support such studies and their follow-up;
14. Notes the potential of new technologies in the prevention and
investigation of extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, encourages the
Office of the High Commissioner to consider convening, within existing resources,
an expert consultation to discuss the current and potential human rights applications
of new technologies and the risks and obstacles to their effective use, open to the
participation of Governments, regional organizations, relevant United Nations
bodies, civil society organizations and other relevant stakeholders, and invites the
Office of the High Commissioner to report on the outcome of the consultation, in
the form of a summary of discussions, to the Human Rights Council;
15. Takes note of the reports of the Special Rapporteur to the General
Assembly;12
16. Commends the important role that the Special Rapporteur plays towards
the elimination of extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, and encourages
the Special Rapporteur to continue, within his mandate, to collect information from
all concerned, to respond effectively to reliable information that comes before him,
to follow up on communications and country visits and to seek the views and
comments of Governments and to reflect them, as appropriate, in his reports;
17. Acknowledges the important role of the Special Rapporteur in identifying
cases where extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions could amount to
genocide and crimes against humanity or war crimes, and urges him to collaborate
with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and, as appropriate,
the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide, in
addressing situations of extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions that are of
particularly serious concern or in which early action might prevent further
deterioration;
18. Welcomes the cooperation established between the Special Rapporteur
and other United Nations mechanisms and procedures in the field of human rights,
and encourages the Special Rapporteur to continue efforts in that regard;
19. Urges all States, in particular those that have not done so, to cooperate
with the Special Rapporteur so that his mandate can be carried out effectively,
including by favourably and rapidly responding to requests for visits, mindful that
country visits are one of the essential tools for the fulfilment of the mandate of the
Special Rapporteur, and by responding in a timely manner to communications and
other requests transmitted to them by the Special Rapporteur;
20. Expresses its appreciation to those States that have received the Special
Rapporteur and asks them to examine his recommendations carefully, invites them
to inform him of the actions taken on those recommendations, and requests other
States to cooperate in a similar way;
21. Again requests the Secretary-General to continue to use his best
endeavours in cases where the minimum standards of legal safeguards provided for
in articles 6, 9, 14 and 15 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
appear not to have been respected;
22. Requests the Secretary-General to provide the Special Rapporteur with
adequate human, financial and material resources to enable him to carry out his
mandate effectively, including through country visits;
23. Also requests the Secretary-General to continue, in close collaboration
with the High Commissioner, in conformity with the mandate of the High
Commissioner established by the General Assembly in its resolution 48/141 of
20 December 1993, to ensure that personnel specialized in human rights and
humanitarian law issues form part of United Nations missions, where appropriate, in
order to deal with serious violations of human rights, such as extrajudicial, summary
or arbitrary executions;
24. Requests the Special Rapporteur to submit to the General Assembly at its
sixty-sixth and sixty-seventh sessions a report on the situation worldwide in regard
to extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions and his recommendations for more
effective action to combat this phenomenon;
25. Decides to continue its consideration of the question at its sixty-seventh
session.