122 Resource book on the use of force and firearms in law enforcement Law enforcement agencies should make sure to continue to differentiate between the different groups involved. It is unlikely that all of them will be violent, or be equally violent. Therefore, it is important for law enforcement officials to make sure that the violent elements are contained and cannot influence others, which would make it a much bigger conflict that would be much more difficult to manage, while at the same time facilitating those that have legitimate objectives. This also means they should make sure they have adequate knowledge, including intelligence, about the different groups and their objectives. And law enforcement officials handling the events should make sure to continue to communicate with the different groups involved and, where applicable, the organizers or leaders. In exceptional situations—for example where protests get violent and continue for a longer time—governments sometimes opt to deploy the military, instead of or in support of, the civilian law enforcement agencies, to restore order.272 In view of their training and equipment, and also in terms of appearances, it is questionable whether armed forces should be given the task of enforcing the law and maintaining law and order.273 Basic law enforcement responsibilities should arguably be left in the hands of regular law enforcement agencies for as long as possible. As a general rule, the military should not be used to police assemblies. Where, in exceptional circumstances, members of the military carry out law enforcement functions they are bound by the applicable law enforcement standards, including the BPUFF. Moreover, international human rights law is always applicable, and must be respected at all times by military and civilian forces alike. Equally, members of the military should be held to the same standards when they use force as civilian law enforcement officials. The Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions has stated that when it is necessary to involve members of the military in law enforcement, they should be adequately trained in human rights and human rights-based law enforcement.274 An important issue when calling in for military assistance is to ensure there are clear lines of command, defining the different responsibilities of military and law enforcement units for each joint action. The military should be subordinate to the civilian authorities and shall be held accountable to civilian law.275 Where military staff is placed under law enforcement command, strict regulations should be required. The actions of military staff in law enforcement operations should be subjected to democratic and civilian oversight. When there is a transition, there have to be well-defined modalities of cooperation and clear benchmarks that indicate when the transition is to take place. These should be stipulated in operation-specific documents. In principle, law enforcement agencies should not transfer primary responsibility for resolving law and order incidents. Military primacy should only be considered if the local threat reaches a level, which should be determined by proper authorities on a legality basis, to be beyond police capacity. 272  Even if the situation does not qualify as a non-international armed conflict and international humanitarian law does not apply. 273  ICRC (2011, p. 40) states that “armed forces are usually neither trained nor equipped for [law enforcement] tasks. It should therefore be clear that whenever such responsibilities are entrusted to the armed forces, the quality of law enforcement and the maintenance of public order may suffer” 274  See Report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, A/66/330, 30 August 2011, para. 96. See also Joint report of the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association and the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions on the proper management of assemblies, A/HRC/31/66, para. 66. 275   Joint report of the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association and the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions on the proper management of assemblies, A/HRC/31/66, para. 66.