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<<previous | index | next>> Legal AspectsIvorian security forces repeatedly violated fundamental rights in its response to the March demonstrations, including the right to life, the right to be free from torture and other mistreatment, and the right not to be arbitrarily arrested or detained. Ivorian security forces acted contrary to the provisions of the U.N. Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials (the Code of Conduct) and the U.N. Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials (the Basic Principles). The Code of Conduct calls upon those exercising police powers to “respect and protect human dignity and maintain and uphold the human rights of all persons.”36 According to the Code of Conduct, “law enforcement officials may use force only when strictly necessary and to the extent required for the performance of their duty.”37 It also provides that “no law enforcement official may inflict, instigate or tolerate any act of torture or any other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment secure medical attention whenever required.”38 The Basic Principles provide that law enforcement officials, in carrying out their duty, shall, "as far as possible, apply non-violent means before resorting to the use of force” and may use force “only if other means remain ineffective or without any promise of achieving the intended result.”39 When the use of force is unavoidable, law enforcement officials must “(a) exercise restraint in such use and act in proportion to the seriousness of the offence and the legitimate objective to be achieved; (b) minimize damage and injury…; and (c) ensure that assistance and medical aid are rendered to any injured or affected persons at the earliest possible moment.”40 In the dispersal of assemblies that “are unlawful but non-violent,” the Basic Principles state that law enforcement officials “shall avoid the use of force or, where that is not practicable, shall restrict such force to the minimum extent necessary.”41 Finally, the Basic Principles, provide that governments shall ensure that arbitrary or abusive use of force and firearms by law enforcement officials is punished as a criminal offence under their law.42 [36] U.N. Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials (Code of Conduct), G.A. res. 34/169, annex, 34 U.N. GAOR Supp. (No. 46) at 186, U.N. Doc. A/34/46 (1979). [37] Ibid. The official commentary published as part of the Code of Conduct notes that “national law ordinarily restricts the use of force by law enforcement officials in accordance with a principle of proportionality” and stresses that while law enforcement officials may authorize use of force “as is reasonably necessary under the circumstances for the prevention of crime or in effecting or assisting in the lawful arrest of offenders or suspected offenders, no force going beyond that may be used.” [38] Ibid., article 3 (a). [39] U.N. Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials, Adopted by the Eighth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, Havana, Cuba, 27 August to 7 September 1990, U.N. Doc. A/CONF.144/28/Rev.1 at 112 (1990), principle 4. [40] Ibid., principle 5. [41] Ibid., principle 13. [42] Ibid., principle 7.
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