112 Resource book on the use of force and firearms in law enforcement SETTING UP A UNIFIED COMMAND a The unified command is a structure that brings together the commanders of all the major organizations involved in the incident in order to coordinate an effective response while at the same time carrying out their own jurisdictional responsibilities. The unified command links the organizations responding to the incident and provides a forum for these entities to make consensus decisions. It is usually based close to the protests itself and facilitates communication with the demonstrators through a single channel. a For more information, visit: https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/ics/what_is_uc.html Dialogue: engaging with the organizers Practice shows that actively engaging with the organizers and participants in order to establish a constructive dialogue helps to prevent escalation of violence, and avoids the need to resort to force by law enforcement officials during assemblies.240 It helps achieve a better understanding of the expectations and responsibilities at stake, avoids unnecessary confrontation, releases tensions and prevents violence or contributes to quickly stopping any disruptive or unlawful incidents should they break out. Such engagement is much easier if there is already a basis of mutual trust and mutual recognition of legitimacy. The authorities and the law enforcement agencies carry joint responsibility, together with the organizers, for ensuring that the participants of the assembly can indeed exercise their rights without undue interference. This is sometimes referred to as the “safety triangle”. It is reasonable to expect that assembly organizers, especially when it is a big, planned, assembly, will take steps to ensure the peacefulness of an assembly, and liaise with law enforcement officials at all stages of the planning and execution of the event, but this should not be compulsory. Moreover, organizers should not incur liability for the unlawful or violent acts of others unless it is shown that they encouraged such acts.241 In most instances, organizers of a large public assembly will notify the authorities of their intent to do so, which provides the first opportunity to engage with them in order to get an idea of what their objectives are and how many participants they are expecting. By getting involved in the preparation phase, law enforcement agencies can negotiate the details of an event with its organizers, but they should also be willing to share with assembly organizers, to the extent possible, information on their security preparations, including when assemblies are considered to be at a higher risk. This has shown to be good practice in many countries and has been helpful in de-escalating tensions.242 240  See Report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions. A/HRC/17/28, 23 May 2011, para. 13. 241  Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. A/HRC/22/28, 21 Jan 2013, para. 10; Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association, A/HRC/20/27, 21 May 2012, para. 93; Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association, Addendum
Mission to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. A/HRC/23/39/Add.1, 17 June 2013, para. 70. 242  See OSCE Monitoring report 2013-2014.