Promotion and Protection of the Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of Africans and of People of African Descent Against Excessive Use of Force and Other Human Rights Violations by Law Enforcement Officers Through Transformative Change for Racial Justice and Equality

A/HRC/RES/47/21View PDF

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the Human Rights Council, under agenda item 9Racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related forms of intolerance, follow-up to and implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, published in 2021.

Who cites this mandate in the budget?

1 entity

Extracted automatically from each entity’s budget submission.

What subjects does this mandate have?

10 topics

Accountability Administration of Justice Africans Anti-Discrimination Measures Groups of Experts Human Rights Law Enforcement Officials People of African Descent Racial Discrimination Violence

What does this mandate say?

30 operative paragraphs

Deplores all forms of racial discrimination, including systemic and structural racism, and its effects on Africans and on people of African descent and their families, and communities around the world;

Condemns the continuing racially discriminatory and violent practices perpetrated by many law enforcement officials against Africans and people of African descent, and systemic racism in the law enforcement and criminal justice systems, and underscores the importance of ensuring that such acts are not treated with impunity;

Recalls that law enforcement officials, in carrying out their duties, should apply non-violent means before resorting, when absolutely necessary, to the use of force, and that in any event all use of force should comply with the fundamental principles of legality, necessity, proportionality, precaution and non-discrimination, and that those using force should be accountable for each use of force;

Stresses that, where it is lawful to arrest certain participants or to disperse an assembly, such actions should comply with international law and have a basis in the domestic law provisions on the permissible use of force, and that domestic legal regimes on the use of force by law enforcement officials should be brought into line with the requirements of international law, where that is not already the case;

Recommends that domestic legal regimes on the use of force by law enforcement officials be brought into line with appropriate international standards, such as the Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials and the United Nations Human Rights Guidance on Less-Lethal Weapons in Law Enforcement, and that law enforcement agencies provide law enforcement officials with appropriate human rights training to ensure that they comply with international rules and standards for law enforcement officials;

Urges States to seize every opportunity to advance the anti-racism agenda and to prioritize attaining racial equality and justice by accelerating action to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to ensure that Africans and people of African descent are not left behind;

Encourages all States and relevant stakeholders to pay due attention to the operational guidelines on the inclusion of people of African descent in the 2030 Agenda in order to ensure that people of African descent are not left behind in the implementation of the Agenda;

Urges States to adopt a systemic approach to combating racial discrimination through the adoption and monitoring of whole-of-government and whole-of-society responses that are contained in comprehensive and adequately resourced national and regional action plans and that include, where necessary, special measures to secure for disadvantaged groups, notably Africans and people of African descent, the full and equal enjoyment of human rights;

Also urges States, as appropriate, to establish, strengthen, review and reinforce the effectiveness of independent national human rights institutions, where applicable, particularly on issues of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, in conformity with the Principles relating to the status of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (the Paris Principles), and to provide them with adequate financial resources, competence and capacity for investigation, research, education and public awareness-raising activities to combat these phenomena, including in law enforcement and criminal justice systems;

Decides to establish an international independent expert mechanism, comprising three experts with law enforcement and human rights expertise, to be appointed by the President of the Human Rights Council, with guidance from the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, in order to further transformative change for racial justice and equality in the context of law enforcement globally, especially where relating to the legacies of colonialism and the Transatlantic slave trade in enslaved Africans, to investigate Governments’ responses to peaceful anti-racism protests and all violations of international human rights law and to contribute to accountability and redress for victims; the mechanism should function in close collaboration with relevant special procedure mandate holders, including the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent and the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, also with a view to avoid duplication;

Also decides that the international independent expert mechanism shall have a three-year mandate, within the purview of its mandate, to advance racial justice and equality in the context of law enforcement in all parts of the world by, inter alia, conducting country visits, inclusive outreach and consultations with States, directly affected individuals and communities, and other stakeholders, and taking into account an intersectional approach by;

Examining systemic racism, including as it relates to structural and institutional racism, faced by Africans and people of African descent, the excessive use of force and other violations of international human rights law against Africans and people of African descent by law enforcement officials, including with regard to patterns, policies, processes and specific incidents, such as those identified in the report of the High Commissioner and relevant conference room paper;

Examining the root causes of systemic racism in law enforcement and the criminal justice system, the excessive use of force, racial profiling and other human rights violations by law enforcement officials against Africans and people of African descent, and how domestic law, policy and practices may lead to disproportionate and widespread interaction between law enforcement officers and Africans and people of African descent;

Making recommendations regarding how domestic legal regimes on the use of force by law enforcement officials can be brought into line with the applicable human rights standards, such as the Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials and the United Nations Human Rights Guidance on Less-Lethal Weapons in Law Enforcement, and ensure that law enforcement officials receive appropriate human rights training to ensure that they comply with obligations under international law;

Making recommendations on the collection and publication of data, with strict safeguards and in line with international law, disaggregated by victims’ race or ethnic origin, on deaths and serious injuries by law enforcement officials and related prosecutions and convictions, as well as any disciplinary actions, to drive and assess responses to systemic racism in the area of law enforcement and the criminal justice system;

Examining any nexus between supremacist movements and actors within law enforcement and the criminal justice system;

Making recommendations with regard to addressing systemic racism, in law enforcement and the criminal justice systems, closing trust deficits, strengthening institutional oversight, adopting alternative and complementary methods to policing and the use of force, and encouraging stocktaking of lessons learned;

Making recommendations on the concrete steps needed to ensure access to justice, accountability and redress for excessive use of force and other human rights violations by law enforcement officials against Africans and people of African descent, including independent and well-resourced mechanisms to support victims of human rights violations by law enforcement officials, their families and communities;

Monitoring the implementation of recommendations on ending impunity for violations by law enforcement officials emanating from the report of the High Commissioner, and identifying obstacles to their full implementation;

Coordinating its work and further strengthening its participation, engagement and cooperation, as appropriate, with all relevant United Nations mechanisms, bodies and processes, including the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice regional human rights mechanisms and national human rights institutions;

Calls upon all States and other relevant stakeholders to cooperate fully with the international independent expert mechanism towards the effective fulfilment of its mandate and, in particular, to provide it with any information and documentation it may require, as well as any other forms of assistance pertaining to its mandate;

Requests the Secretary-General to provide the international independent expert mechanism, through the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, with full administrative, technical and logistical support and the resources necessary to enable it to carry out its mandate;

Requests the High Commissioner to enhance and broaden monitoring by the Office of the High Commissioner, including through its field presences, with the assistance of relevant special procedure mandate holders and relevant United Nations agencies, in order to continue to report on systemic racism, violations of international human rights law against Africans and people of African descent by law enforcement agencies, to contribute to accountability and redress and to take further action globally towards transformative change for racial justice and equality, including by providing support for and strengthening assistance to States and other stakeholders, particularly people of African descent and their organizations, and by giving further visibility to this work;

Requests the High Commissioner and the international independent expert mechanism each to prepare, on an annual basis, a written report, and to present them jointly to the Human Rights Council, starting from its fifty-first session, during an enhanced interactive dialogue that prioritizes the participation of directly affected individuals and communities, including victims and their families, and to transmit their reports to the General Assembly;

Requests the Secretary-General to provide the Office of the High Commissioner with full administrative, technical and logistical support and the resources necessary to enable it to carry out its mandate;

Calls upon all States and all relevant stakeholders to cooperate fully with the High Commissioner in the preparation of the annual reports;

Also calls upon all States and all relevant stakeholders to ensure the accountability of law enforcement officials for human rights violations and crimes against Africans and people of African descent, to close trust deficits and to strengthen institutional oversight;

Further calls upon all States and all relevant stakeholders to ensure that Africans and people of African descent and those who stand up against racism are protected, that their voices are heard and that their concerns are acted upon;

Invites all treaty bodies, special procedure mandate holders and international and regional human rights mechanisms, within their respective mandates, to pay due attention to all forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, including against Africans and people of African descent, and to bring them to the attention of the Human Rights Council;

Decides to remain seized of the matter.

Paragraph content is machine-extracted from UN documents. For authoritative content, please refer to the official UN document.

No headings found in this document.

Who created this mandate?

Who cites this mandate in the budget?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What does this mandate say?

Table of contents