Foreword I am very pleased to present the revised Minnesota Protocol on the Investigation of Potentially Unlawful Death (2016). This is an updated version of the original UN Manual on the Effective Prevention of Extra-legal, Arbitrary and Summary Executions of 1991, which, through widespread usage, became known as the Minnesota Protocol. Like the original, this updated version supplements the UN Principles on the Effective Prevention and Investigation of Extra-legal, Arbitrary and Summary Executions (1989), which remains an important part of the international legal standards for the prevention of unlawful deaths and the investigation of potentially unlawful deaths. The original Minnesota Protocol was drafted through an expert process led by the Minnesota Lawyers International Human Rights Committee, motivated by an awareness among civil society actors that there was no clear international reference point at the time to act as either a practical guide for those tasked with conducting investigations into suspicious deaths, or as a norm against which to evaluate such investigations. The work pioneered by this group of legal and forensic experts throughout the 1980s, made it clear to all concerned what valuable allies forensic practitioners could be in the work to better protect human rights. The finalization of the Minnesota Protocol, dealing with executions, and the subsequent development of the Manual on the Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (Istanbul Protocol), focusing on torture, have now made such professional collaboration a common practice. In the years since it was drafted, the Minnesota Protocol has been widely used both as an education resource, as a practical guide, and as a legal standard. Along with the Principles, it has been used by national, regional and international courts, commissions and committees, such as the European and Inter-American Courts of Human Rights, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the UN Human Rights Committee. During the same intervening years, there have also been many welcome developments in international law, investigative practice and forensic science, and it was brought to the attention of my Office through several resolutions of the UN Commission on Human Rights that this valuable resource was in need of updating to retain and expand its relevance. In 2014, the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Christof Heyns, in collaboration with my Office, initiated a process to revise and update the Protocol and convened the expert meetings that led to the finalization of this text. Given the role of forensic experts themselves in devising the original version, it has been particularly welcome that so many have been involved in this revision process. Likewise, just as the first UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, S. Amos Wako, played a significant role in the original process, I am grateful to the work of the former Special Rapporteur, Christof Heyns, for the hard work, the rigour and the excellence that has gone into this vital and timely revision. Although the document remains an expert document, a special effort was also made to get inputs from States, other international organizations, other Special Rapporteurs, treaty bodies, NGOs and individual professionals. This collaborative approach has greatly enriched the text, and has, I hope, made more likely the widespread distribution of the revised standards to those experts and institutions who can most directly benefit from it. For the norms of human rights to have real impact, there have to be tangible responses to potential violations. Investigations and, if appropriate, subsequent accountability processes play a vital role in upholding the right to life. However, in many contexts in which my Office works, we have found that the awareness of the standards to which such investigations should be held and of the range of various specialist methodologies required varies considerably. A suspicious death occurring anywhere in the world is potentially a violation of the right to life, often described as the supreme human right, and therefore a prompt, impartial and effective investigation is key to ensuring that a culture of accountability — rather than impunity — prevails. The same applies to enforced disappearances. The updated version of the Minnesota Protocol provides a comprehensive and shared platform for forensic investigators, pathologists, law enforcement officials, lawyers, prosecutors, presiding officers and NGOs to make accountability a worldwide reality. Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein UN High Commissioner for Human Rights v