CCPR/C/130/D/3042/2017 Annex IV Individual opinion of Committee member Gentian Zyberi (concurring) 1. While agreeing with the decision of the Committee, I want to clarify the jurisdictional link and the legal obligations on the part of States regarding search and rescue operations at sea, especially concerning refugees and migrants. 2. This specific case and the relevant legal framework demonstrate the shared responsibility among States for such search and rescue operations. While a State has primary responsibility for its search and rescue area, there is a residual responsibility on all States to provide assistance, especially to those States with limited capacities of their own. 3. The jurisdictional link in search and rescue operations is generally based on the international legal obligations of States to render assistance to persons in distress at sea, read in the light of article 6 of the Covenant. In paragraph 3 of its general comment No. 36 (2018), the Committee states that the right to life concerns the entitlement of individuals to be free from acts and omissions that are intended or may be expected to cause their unnatural or premature death. The concepts of “power and control”, which are commonly used with regard to extraterritorial jurisdiction, have to be construed and interpreted in the light of the specific circumstances at sea. When assessing issues of State responsibility concerning search and rescue operations aimed at saving persons in distress at sea, the due diligence requirement is an obligation of conduct, requiring a State to make the best efforts within the means available. 4. In failed search and rescue operations that result in lives lost, the State has a procedural obligation under article 6 of the Covenant to start ex officio a prompt and effective investigation to find out what happened and, where necessary, hold those responsible to account. 15