Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions

A/RES/55/111View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 114b Human rights questions, including alternative approaches for improving the effective enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms, published in 2001.

What other versions does this mandate have?

15 versions · 1997–2024

This is an older version — the most recent is A/RES/79/176

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
2024	A/RES/79/176	Extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions	3,431	84%Compare
2023	A/RES/77/218	Extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions	3,316	74%Compare
2020	A/RES/75/189	Extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions	2,727	96%Compare
2019	A/RES/73/172	Extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions	2,647	89%Compare
2017	A/RES/71/198	Extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions	2,441	89%Compare

What’s in this document?

30 operative paragraphs

Strongly condemns once again all the extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions that continue to take place throughout the world;

Notes that impunity continues to be a major cause of the perpetuation of violations of human rights, including extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions;

Acknowledges the historic significance of the adoption of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court,⁸ and the fact that a significant number of States have already signed and/or ratified the Statute, and calls upon all States to consider signing and ratifying the Statute;

⁸A/CONF.183/9.

Demands that all Governments ensure that the practice of extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions be brought to an end and that they take effective action to combat and eliminate the phenomenon in all its forms;

Takes note of the interim report of the Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions,⁹ including the attention given therein to various aspects and situations involving violations of the right to life by extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions;

⁹See A/55/288, annex.

Reiterates the obligation of all Governments 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 to the victims or their families and to adopt all necessary measures, including legal and judicial measures, in order to bring an end to impunity, to prevent the recurrence of such executions;

Calls upon Governments concerned to investigate promptly and thoroughly cases in various parts of the world of killings committed in the name of passion or in the name of honour, persons killed for reasons related to their peaceful activities as human rights defenders or as journalists, racially motivated violence leading to the death of the victim as well as other persons whose right to life has been violated, and to bring those responsible to justice before an independent and impartial judiciary, and to ensure that such killings are neither condoned nor sanctioned by government officials or personnel;

Urges Governments to undertake all necessary and possible measures to prevent loss of life, in particular that of children, during public demonstrations, internal and communal violence, civil unrest and public emergencies or armed conflict, and to ensure that the police and security forces receive thorough training in human rights matters, in particular with regard to restrictions on the use of force and firearms in the discharge of their functions;

Stresses the importance for States to take effective measures to end impunity with regard to extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, inter alia, through the adoption of preventive measures, and calls upon Governments to ensure that such measures are included in post-conflict peace-building efforts;

Encourages the Special Rapporteur to continue, within the framework of her mandate, to collect information from all concerned and to seek the views and comments of Governments so as to be able to respond effectively to reliable information that comes before her and to follow up communications and country visits;

Reaffirms Economic and Social Council decision 1998/265 of 30 July 1998, in which the Council endorsed the decision of the Commission on Human Rights, in its resolution 1998/68, to extend the mandate of the Special Rapporteur for three years;

Notes the important role the Special Rapporteur has played in the elimination of extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions;

Also notes that the Commission, in its resolution 2000/31, requested the Special Rapporteur, in carrying out her mandate:

To continue to examine situations of extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions and to submit her findings on an annual basis, together with conclusions and recommendations, to the Commission, as well as such other reports as the Special Rapporteur deems necessary in order to keep the Commission informed about serious situations of extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions that warrant its immediate attention;

To respond effectively to information that comes before her, in particular when an extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary execution is imminent or seriously threatened or when such an execution has occurred;

To enhance further her dialogue with Governments, as well as to follow up on recommendations made in reports after visits to particular countries;

To continue to pay special attention to extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions of children and to allegations concerning violations of the right to life in the context of violence against participants in demonstrations and other peaceful public manifestations or against persons belonging to minorities;

To pay special attention to extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions where the victims are individuals carrying out peaceful activities in defence of human rights and fundamental freedoms;

To continue monitoring the implementation of existing international standards on safeguards and restrictions relating to the imposition of capital punishment, bearing in mind the comments made by the Human Rights Committee in its interpretation of article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,2 as well as the Second Optional Protocol thereto;¹⁰

¹⁰Resolution 44/128, annex.

To apply a gender perspective in her work;

Strongly urges all Governments, in particular those that have not yet done so, to respond without undue delay to the communications and requests for information transmitted to them by the Special Rapporteur, and urges them and all others concerned to cooperate with and assist the Special Rapporteur so that she may carry out her mandate effectively, including, where appropriate, by issuing invitations to the Special Rapporteur when she so requests;

Expresses its appreciation to those Governments that have invited the Special Rapporteur to visit their countries, asks them to examine carefully the recommendations made by the Special Rapporteur and invites them to report to the Special Rapporteur on the actions taken on those recommendations, and requests other Governments to cooperate in a similar way;

Encourages Governments, international organizations 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, as well as members of United Nations peacekeeping or observer missions, in human rights and humanitarian law issues connected with their work, and appeals to the international community to support endeavours to that end;

Urges the Special Rapporteur to continue to bring to the attention of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights such situations of extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions as are of particularly serious concern to her or where early action might prevent further deterioration;

Welcomes the cooperation established between the Special Rapporteur and other United Nations mechanisms and procedures relating to human rights, as well as with medical and forensic experts, and encourages the Special Rapporteur to continue efforts in that regard;

Calls upon the Governments of all States in which the death penalty has not been abolished to comply with their obligations under relevant provisions of international human rights instruments, keeping in mind the safeguards and guarantees referred to in Economic and Social Council resolutions 1984/50 and 1989/64;

Again requests the Secretary-General to continue to use his best endeavours in cases where the minimum standard of legal safeguards provided for in articles 6, 9, 14 and 15 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights appears not to have been respected;

Requests the Secretary-General to provide the Special Rapporteur with an adequate and stable level of human, financial and material resources to enable her to carry out her mandate effectively, including through country visits;

Also requests the Secretary-General to continue, in close collaboration with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, in conformity with the High Commissioner’s mandate 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;

Requests the Special Rapporteur to submit an interim report to the General Assembly at its fifty-seventh session on the situation worldwide in regard to extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions and her recommendations for more effective action to combat that phenomenon.

Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions

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