HIGHLIGHTS OF RESULTS
opinion around the death penalty as part of ongoing
advocacy regarding its abolition. Advocacy with Iran
contributed to the adoption of amendments, in November, reducing the scope of the application of the
death penalty for some drug-related offences. In the
Maldives, following an announcement by the President
that executions would resume, contact with authorities
increased in an effort to dissuade abandonment of the
Government’s moratorium on the death penalty.
In Papua New Guinea, although the Government announced in 2013 that it was widening the scope of the
death penalty to include cases of aggravated robbery
and killings related to sorcery accusation, no judge has
handed down a death sentence since then. Moreover,
at the end of the year, a judge of the National Court
issued a stay of execution in relation to all persons on
death row, based on a judicial inquiry that found that
some of their constitutional rights had not been fully
respected. Some progress was achieved in Somalia
as 74 people who had been sentenced to death had
their sentences commuted to terms of confinement.
The Government of Thailand demonstrated its commitment to work towards abolishing the death penalty.
It has not carried out a death sentence since 2009.
At a 2014 Continental Conference on the Abolition of
the Death Penalty in Africa, the African Commission on
Human and Peoples’ Rights urged African Union (AU)
member states to observe a moratorium on the death
penalty and consider its abolition. It also developed a
draft Additional Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Abolition of the Death
Penalty. Nevertheless, at the initiative of some member states and the AU Specialized Technical Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs, the adoption of the
draft Additional Protocol was suspended in 2016 and
no further progress has been made.
Training of the judiciary and security forces
Various capacity-building activities and technical advice facilitated by UN Human Rights were aimed at
helping increase judiciary’s and security forces’ knowledge of human rights concepts and methodologies,
particularly in regards to the administration of justice,
non-discrimination and human rights in policing.
In Eritrea, approximately 70 representatives from the
judiciary, the prosecution, the police and correctional
personnel participated in workshops facilitated by UN
Human Rights on the human rights aspects of the administration of justice, such as the independence of
the judiciary, the protection of persons deprived of
their liberty, the right to a fair trial and the rights of persons in situations of vulnerability. In Serbia, following
four training workshops on relevant international human rights standards attended by almost 100 judges,
a manual was developed on the application of international human rights law. In Uganda, UN Human Rights
developed and contributed to the implementation of
a curriculum for the training of judges of the Supreme
Court, the Court of Appeal and the High Court. As a
result of the increased capacity of the judiciary, a landmark judgment was handed down by the Uganda Supreme Court, in 2015, which opened doors to litigation
of economic, social and cultural rights, and culminated
with another ground-breaking judgement, in 2017, that
held that the State was obliged to protect the right to
health and was accountable for the failure to protect
this right in cases where mothers had lost their lives
when giving birth.
In relation to the capacity-building of security forces,
in Djibouti, the National Human Rights Commission
drafted a human rights manual for the police, which is in
compliance with international human rights standards.
A human rights training programme was developed for
the Defence and Security Forces of Guinea, while the
Liberia Immigration Service, national police and armed
forces integrated human rights monitoring and training
into their operational mechanisms. The Police Academy of Cambodia organized three successive training
sessions through which 183 prison staff members were
trained on prison management, legislation, human rights
and the prevention of torture. In Tunisia, the capacity of
3,600 law enforcement officers from the police, national guard and civil protection service was strengthened
through training sessions on human rights in policing. A
module on human rights was included in the curriculum
of the National Police School.
In Fiji, a pilot human rights training course for the police
was implemented in 2017, resulting in the training of
257 police recruits. Following the delivery of a human
rights seminar for police senior management, a task
force was set up to support the police in their efforts to
harmonize operational directives, processes and procedures with human rights principles. In Timor-Leste,
human rights training programmes were established
for the police, in 2014, and for the military, in 2017. The
training on human rights for police was integrated into
the curriculum for police recruits and was used to train
in-service officers throughout the country. Additionally,
training manuals were developed for and implemented by both law enforcement bodies.
At the global level, in cooperation with UNDP and
the International Centre for Drug Policy and Human
Rights, UN Human Rights contributed to the drafting
of the International Guidelines on Human Rights and
Drug Control, which will provide guidance to States
and other stakeholders on this subject.
UN HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT 2017
25
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