Index to Legal Observations
This page indexes sections of the annual reports of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions that discuss legal issues in depth. Please note that only reports from the past few years have been indexed thus far. For earlier years, refer to the official reports of the Special Rapporteur.
Reports Issued August 2007
Review of the mandate’s development over 25 years (PDF)
- Confronting problematic innovations in counter-terrorism tactics (PDF)
- Assisting in the protection of refugees and internally displaced persons (PDF)
- Holding armed groups and other non-State actors to account for human rights abuses (PDF)
- Developing effective working methods to fulfil the mandate (PDF)
- Drawing conclusions (PDF)
Reports Issued January 2007
The mandate of the Special Rapporteur in armed conflicts (PDF)
“Mercy killings” in armed conflict (PDF)
Imposing the death penalty only for the “most serious crimes” (PDF)
The prohibition of the mandatory death penalty (PDF)
Reports Issued September 2006
The evolving human rights regime and the role of “soft law” standards (PDF)
Case study: the use of lethal force by law enforcement officials (PDF)
The central concept of due diligence (PDF)
Balancing State responsibilities against legal doctrines seeking to empower victims (PDF)
Reports Issued February 2006
Transparency and the imposition of the death penalty (PDF)
This report deals in depth with the obligation to publish information on the administration of the death penalty and with the obligation to provide transparency to convicts and their families throughout the post-conviction process. It explores the legal framework and surveys current state practice, addressing common rationales for secrecy, including national security and the convict's privacy.
Briefly discusses how the principle of transparency is central to the elimination of extrajudicial executions.
Transparency in investigating violations: commissions of inquiry
Discusses the role of national-level investigations of alleged violations of international law by the armed or security forces and explains what is required for these to be credible and acceptable.
Transparency in relation to the death penalty
Summarizes the conclusions of the report on Transparency and the imposition of the death penalty (above).
Analyzes the obligation to conduct independent and impartial investigations into possible violations of the right to life during situations of armed conflict and occupation, the obligation to punish those individuals responsible for violations in a manner commensurate with the gravity of their crimes, and the obligation for States to undertake the systematic supervision and periodic investigation necessary to ensure that their institutions, policies, and practices ensure the right to life as effectively as possible.
Explains the legal standards regulating the use of lethal force against suspected suicide bombers and discusses the threat to human rights posed by the rhetoric of "shoot to kill."
Reports Issued December 2004
Genocide and crimes against humanity
Discusses recent actions taken by the international community.
Violations of the right to life in armed conflict and internal strife
Analyzes the legal implications of targeted killings, the applicability of human rights law to situations of armed conflict and occupation, and the relationship between human rights law and humanitarian law.
Capital Punishment: Transparency
Notes that in many countries no statistics are available as to executions, or as to the numbers or identities of those detained on death row, and little if any information is provided to those who are to be executed or to their families. And explains that, while countries that have maintained the death penalty are not prohibited by international law from making that choice, they have a clear obligation to disclose the details of their application of the penalty.
Capital Punishment: Periodic Reviews
In light of the risk of wrongful executions, calls upon those countries that retain the death penalty "to undertake regular periodic reviews, staffed by persons independent of the criminal justice apparatus, to evaluate the extent to which international standards have been complied with and to consider any evidence (such as DNA) that might be available which casts doubt upon the guilt of an executed person."
Capital Punishment: Mandatory Death Sentences
Discusses legislation that provides for the death sentence to be mandatory in certain circumstances, preventing judges from taking into account individual circumstances and differing degrees of moral reprehensibility.
Violations of the right to life by non-State actors
Analyzes the application of human rights law to abuses committed by four types of non-State actor:
- Groups which, although not government officials as such, nonetheless operate at the behest of the Government, or with its knowledge or acquiescence, and as a result are not subject to effective investigation, prosecution, or punishment. Examples: paramilitary groups, militias, death squads, and irregulars.
- Private contractors or consultants who, although not government officials in any way, are nonetheless exercising functions which would otherwise have been carried out by the State. Examples: privatized prison management, law enforcement, interrogation, etc.
- Private criminal acts insofar as the State has failed to take all appropriate measures to deter, prevent and punish the perpetrators as well as to address any attitudes or conditions within society which encourage or facilitate such crimes. Examples: honour killings, killings directed at groups such as homosexuals and members of minority groups, sustained attacks on trade unionists, so-called social cleansing of “undesirable” elements, and repeated attacks on professional groups.
- Armed opposition groups, especialy those that exercise significant control over territory and population and have identifiable political structures.