10 BASIC HUMAN RIGHTS

STANDARDS FOR LAW

ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS
• All governments are required to adopt the
necessary measures to instruct law enforcement
officials, during basic training and all subsequent
training and refresher courses, in the provisions
of national legislation in accordance with the UN
Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials as
well as other basic international human rights
standards applicable to law enforcement officials.
Background

• Everyone shares responsibility to uphold the

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in
its entirety. Nevertheless the UDHR contains a
number of articles which are particularly relevant
for law enforcement work.
• Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security
of person.
• No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel,
inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
• All are equal before the law and are entitled
without any discrimination to equal protection of
the law.
• No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest
and detention.
• Everyone charged with a penal offence has
the right to be presumed innocent until
proved guilty according to law in a public trial
at which they have had all the guarantees
necessary for their defense.
• Everyone has the right to freedom of
opinion and expression.
• Everyone has the right to freedom of
peaceful assembly and association,
and no one may be compelled to
belong to an association.
Basic Standard 1:

• Everyone is entitled to equal protection of the

law,
• without discrimination on any grounds, and
especially against violence or threat.
• Be especially vigilant to protect potentially
vulnerable groups such as children, the elderly,
women, refugees, displaced persons and
members of minority groups.
• Guidelines / Suggested Action Items:
• a. All police personnel must carry and use
Miranda Warning
• Cards that contain English and Filipino versions. If
possible,
• produce an additional Miranda Warning Card
using the
• vernacular or most common language/dialect in
your area of jurisdiction.
• Police service must be non-selective. Provide the
same quality of service to all people regardless of
their age, sex, economic and political status,
religion, ethnic background, and any other status.
Basic Standard 2:

• Treat all victims of crime with compassion and

respect, and in particular protect their safety and
privacy.
Guidelines / Suggested Action Items:

• Treat all citizens and victims of crime with

compassion and respect, with utmost
consideration for their need for safety and
privacy.
• It must be remembered that under the law, all
arrested persons and detainees are still
considered innocent and have the right to due
process.
• Only the court can determine their guilt or
innocence. Even when they are already convicted
by the court, they still have the right to be
treated humanely, with full respect and dignity.
Basic Standard 3:

• Do not use force except when strictly necessary

and to the minimum extent required under the
circumstances.
Guidelines / Suggested Action Items:

• Whenever the lawful use of force is unavoidable,

police officers must:
• Exercise restraint in such use and act in
proportion to the seriousness of the offence and
the legitimate objective to be achieved.
• Minimize damage and injury, and respect and
preserve human life
• Ensure that all possible assistance and medical
aid are rendered to any injured or affected
persons at the earliest possible moment
• Re-orient police personnel about the Use of Force
Doctrine or Use of Force continuum with emphasis
on the use of lethal force only as a last resort.
• Re-train police personnel in proper arrest
procedures with emphasis on non-lethal tactics,
weapons retention techniques, and officer safety
measures.
• Where injury or death is caused by the use of
force by police officers, they shall report the
incident promptly to their superiors, who should
ensure that proper investigations of all such
incidents are carried out.
Basic Standard 4:
• Avoid using force when policing unlawful but non-
violent assemblies. When dispersing violent
assemblies, use force only to the minimum extent
necessary.
Guidelines / Suggested Action Items

• Everyone is allowed to participate in peaceful

assemblies, whether political or non-political,
subject only to very limited restrictions imposed
in conformity with the law and which are
necessary in a democratic society to protect such
interests as public order and public health. The
police must not interfere with lawful and peaceful
assemblies, otherwise than for the protection of
persons participating in such an assembly or
others.
• If possible, arrange for a meeting with protest leaders/
organizers prior to the actual day of protest
demonstrations.
• An open dialogue would help the police establish
“ground rules” and communication lines with protest
leaders/organizers which are necessary to prevent
miscommunication and possible outbreak of violence.
• Whenever appropriate, deploy properly trained
and equipped female CDM personnel as front
liners. Previous experience showed that there is
less agitation on the part of protesters and lower
incidence of violence when female CDM personnel
are made as front liners.
Basic Standard 5:

• Lethal force should not be used except when

strictly unavoidable in order to protect your life or
the lives of others.
Guidelines / Suggested Action Items

• Police officers must not use firearms except for

the following objectives and only when less
extreme means are insufficient to achieve these
objectives:

• In self-defense or in defense of others against the

imminent threat of death or serious injury.
• To prevent the perpetration of a particularly
serious crime involving grave threat to life.
• To arrest a person presenting such a danger and
resisting the police officer's authority, or to
prevent his or her escape
• Provide for warnings to be given, if appropriate,
when firearms are to be discharged.
• Provide for a system of reporting and
investigation whenever police officers use
firearms in the performance of their duty.
Basic Standard 6:
• Arrest no person unless there are legal grounds
to do so, and the arrest is carried out in
accordance with lawful arrest procedures.
Guidelines / Suggested Action Items

• To make sure that an arrest is lawful and not arbitrary, it is

important that the reasons for the arrest and the powers and
identity of arresting officers are known.
• All police personnel must carry and use Miranda Warning
Cards in informing persons arrested, detained or under
investigation about their rights under the law.
 Basic Standard 7:
• Ensure all detainees have access promptly after
arrest to their family and legal representative and
to any necessary medical assistance.
Guidelines / Suggested Action Items
• Ensure that duty personnel have contact details
of nearby
• hospitals and clinics in case the persons arrested,
detained and those under investigation require
emergency medical care.

• Police officers or other competent authorities

must ensure that all detainees are fully able in
practice to avail themselves of the right to notify
family members or relatives immediately of their
whereabouts and others should be able to visit a
detainee as soon as possible after he or she is
taken into custody. Relatives and others should
be able to correspond with the detainee and
make further visits regularly to verify the
detainee's continued well-being.
Basic Standard 8:
• All detainees must be treated humanely.
• Do not inflict, instigate or tolerate any act of
torture or ill-treatment, in any circumstances, and
refuse to obey any order to do so
Guidelines / Suggested Action Items

• Documentation of investigation procedures as a

tool
• for training and performance evaluation;
• Recording of proof about the proper, fair, and
legal
• conduct of police investigation in defense to
possible
• harassment suits.
Basic Standard 9:

• Do not carry out, order or cover up extrajudicial

executions or „„Disappearances'', and refuse to
obey any order to do so.
Guidelines / Suggested Action Items

• No one should be arbitrarily or indiscriminately

deprived of life. An extrajudicial execution is an
unlawful and deliberate killing carried out by, or
on the order of, someone at some level of
government, whether national, state or local, or
with their acquiescence.
• When in doubt about a specific order, seek
clarification and guidance from the direct superior
or from higher headquarters.
• In some cases, it may be advisable to request for
written
• instructions or orders to ensure that specific
missions or
• police interventions are legal and duly authorized.
• The need to disobey an unlawful order should be
seen as a duty, taking precedence over the
normal duty to obey orders. The duty to
disobey an unlawful order entails the right to
disobey it.
Basic Standard 10:

• Report all breaches of these Basic Standards to

your senior officer and to the office of the public
prosecutor.
• Do everything within your power to ensure steps
are taken to Investigate these breaches.
• All violations of human rights by the police or
other law enforcement personnel, including any
breaches of these Basic Standards, should be
investigated fully, promptly and independently, for
instance by the office of the public prosecutor.
The main objective of these investigations is to
establish the facts and to bring to justice those
responsible:
• End.
• Thankyou.