Summary executions - OHCHR

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| |Advance version |Distr. |
| | |GENERAL |
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| | |A/HRC/8/3/Add.1 |
| | |30 May 2008 |
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| | |ENGLISH/FRENCH/SPANISH |

HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL
Eighth session
Agenda item 3





PROMOTION AND PROTECTION OF ALL HUMAN RIGHTS, CIVIL, POLITICAL, ECONOMIC,
SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS, INCLUDING THE RIGHT TO DEVELOPMENT


Report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary
executions, Philip Alston

Addendum

Summary of cases transmitted to Government and replies received( ((
CONTENTS

| |Paragrahs|Page |
|Introduction |1 |3 |
|I. COMMUNICATIONS AND REPLIES |2-6 |3 |
|Violation alleged |3 |3 |
|Subject(s) of appeal |4 |4 |
|Character of replies received |5 |4 |
|Observations of the Special Rapporteur |6 |4 |
|II. TABULATION OF COMMUNICATIONS AND REPLIES |7-11 |4 |
|"Communications sent" and "Government responses |8 |4 |
|received" | | |
|"Number and category of individuals concerned" |9 |5 |
|"Alleged violations of the right to life upon |10 |5 |
|which the Special Rapporteur intervened" | | |
|"Character of replies received" |11 |5 |
Introduction

This report contains a comprehensive account of communications sent to
Governments up to 15 March 2008, along with replies received up to the end
of April 2008. It also contains responses received to communications that
were sent in earlier years.

I. COMMUNICATIONS AND REPLIES

Along with fuller reproductions or summaries of correspondence, this report
summarizes the correspondence regarding each communication under four
headings for ease of reference.

A. Violation alleged

Violations are classified into the following categories:

(a) Non-respect of international standards on safeguards and
restrictions relating to the imposition of capital punishment ("Death
penalty safeguards");


(b) Death threats and fear of imminent extrajudicial executions by
State officials, paramilitary groups, or groups cooperating with or
tolerated by the Government, as well as unidentified persons who may be
linked to the categories mentioned above and when the Government is
failing to take appropriate protection measures ("Death threats");


(c) Deaths in custody owing to torture, neglect, or the use of force,
or fear of death in custody due to life-threatening conditions of
detention ("Deaths in custody");


(d) Deaths due to the use of force by law enforcement officials or
persons acting in direct or indirect compliance with the State, when
the use of force is inconsistent with the criteria of absolute
necessity and proportionality ("Excessive force");


(e) Deaths due to the attacks or killings by security forces of the
State, or by paramilitary groups, death squads, or other private forces
cooperating with or tolerated by the State ("Attacks or killings");


(f) Violations of the right to life during armed conflicts, especially
of the civilian population and other non-combatants, contrary to
international humanitarian law ("Violations of right to life in armed
conflict");


(g) Expulsion, refoulement, or return of persons to a country or a
place where their lives are in danger ("Expulsion");


(h) Impunity, compensation and the rights of victims ("Impunity").


The short versions contained in parentheses are used in the tabulation of
communications.

B. Subject(s) of appeal

The subjects of appeal are classified in accordance with paragraph 6 of
Commission of Human Rights resolution 2004/37 and paragraph 5 (b) of
General Assembly resolution 61/173.

C. Character of replies received

The replies received have been classified according to the following five
categories designed to assist the Commission in its task of evaluating the
effectiveness of the mandate:

(a) "Largely satisfactory response" denotes a reply that is responsive to
the allegations and that substantially clarifies the facts. It does not,
however, imply that the action taken necessarily complies with
international human rights law;

(b) "Cooperative but incomplete response" denotes a reply that provides
some clarification of the allegations but that contains limited factual
substantiation or that fails to address some issues;

(c) "Allegations rejected but without adequate substantiation" denotes a
reply denying the allegations but which is not supported by documentation
or analysis that can be considered satisfactory under the circumstances;

(d) "Receipt acknowledged" denotes a reply acknowledging that the
communication was received but without providing any substantive
information;

(e) "No response".

D. Observations of the Special Rapporteur

In order to underscore the importance of the dialogue between the Special
Rapporteur and Governments and to avoid any appearance that the principal
goal is the exchange of correspondence for its own sake, this report
contains brief comments by the Special Rapporteur on the extent to which he
considers each reply to have responded adequately to the concerns arising
under the mandate. An indication is also provided in instances in which
additional information is required to respond effectively to the
information received.

II. TABULATION OF COMMUNICATIONS AND REPLIES

To provide an overview of the activities of the mandate in the past year,
this report also includes a table that contains the following information
by country.

A. "Communications sent" and "Government responses received"

These columns contain the total number of communications sent by the
Special Rapporteur and the total number of responses received from
Governments. The columns also contain subtotals for urgent appeals (UA) and
allegation letters (AL).

B. "Number and category of individuals concerned"

The subjects of communications are classified in accordance with paragraph
6 of Commission of Human Rights resolution 2004/37.

C. "Alleged violations of the right to life upon which the Special
Rapporteur intervened"

This column lists the number of communications containing allegations of a
particular category. (See Section I, paragraph 3above).

D. "Character of replies received"

See Section I, paragraph 5 above.


ANNEX

|Country |Communications|Government |Number and Category |Alleged Violations of |Character of |
| |Sent[1] |Responses |of Individuals |the Right to Life upon |Replies Received |
| | |Received |Concerned[2] |which the Special | |
| | | | |Rapporteur Intervened | |
|Afghanistan |1 (1 UA) |0 |1 male (journalist) |Death penalty safeguards|No response (1) |
| | | | |(1) | |
|Algeria |2 (2 AL)[3] |1 (1 AL) |1 male |Deaths in custody (2) |Allegation rejected|
| | | | | |without adequate |
| | | | | |substanciation (1) |
| | | | | | |
| | | | | |No response (1) |
| | | | | | |
|Armenia |1 (1 AL) |0 |1 male |Deaths in custody (1) |No response (1) |
|Australia |1 (1 AL)[4] |0 |1 male (indigenous) |Deaths in custody (1) |Largely |
| | | | | |satisfactory |
| | | | | |response (1) |
|Bahrain |1 (1UA) |1 (UA) |1 male (HRD) |Excessive force/ |Cooperative but |
| | | | |Impunity (1) |incomplete response|
| | | | | |(1) |
|Bangladesh |5 (4 AL, 1 |3 (3 AL) |1 female |Death threats (1) |Largely |
| |UA)[5] | |(journalist) |Attacks or killings (2)|satisfactory |
| | | |2 males | |response (3) |
|