of African descent and other racial and ethnic minorities and the marginalisation of underprivileged people are among the root causes of law enforcement abuses. 4. At the same time, human rights entities have made significant efforts to set normative standards and principles to limit the use of force, through a range of instruments. Among these instruments it is worth highlighting: the Minnesota Protocol on the Investigation of Potentially Unlawful Death (2016), of the Manual on the Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment “Istanbul Protocol” (upcoming), of General Comment 36 on the Right to Life (2019). Other developments include General Comment Number 37 on the Right of Peaceful Assembly (2020), The Berkeley Protocol on Digital Open-Source Investigations (2020), the United Nations Guidance on Less-Lethal Weapons in Law Enforcement (2020), Thematic Reports on the protection of the right to life during law enforcement (2014)4 and on Extra Custodial Use of Force (2017)5, the joint report on The Proper Management of Assemblies6, reports by regional bodies7, decisions on individual communications8, concluding observations by UN Treaty Bodies9 and jurisprudence by regional human rights tribunals10. 5. Against the backdrop of the discrepancy or gap between existing patterns of abuse of force, including the misuse of lethal and less-lethal weapons, on the one hand, and international and domestic legal frameworks, on the other, the Committee and the participants examined together how the Committee can strengthen its monitoring, interpretation and protection role when addressing this form of torture and other CIDTP. 6. This Briefing Report is structured around four main topics discussed by the participants: I. The scope and limits of the principles of the use of force; II. The policing of assemblies and risks of less-lethal weapons; III. Applying the anti-torture framework on the use of force; and IV. Key developments in the work of the Committee in addressing extra-custodial use of force. The report concludes with a set of key recommendations addressing current gaps and opportunities. 7. In addition to discussions during the Thematic Briefing, this report has been informed by a desk review of secondary sources, including the work of the Committee, other international bodies and instruments, country specific reports on the use of force drafted by the OMCT over the past years, and input from the SOS-Torture Regional Litigators’ Groups. 8. For the purpose of this report, extra-custodial use of force refers to the force used by law enforcement officials on individuals who are not deprived of their liberty. Deprivation of liberty, as defined by the United Nations Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, is “any form of detention or imprisonment or the placement of a person in a public or private custodial setting which that person is not permitted to leave at will by order of any judicial, administrative or other authority”11. As stated by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, “there are a number of different places which an individual is not free to leave at will and which raise a question of de facto deprivation of liberty”12. 4. UN Human Rights Council, Report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, 1 April 2014, A/HRC/26/36. 5. UN General Assembly, Report of the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, 20 July 2017, A/72/178. 6. U  N Human Rights Council, 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, 4 February 2016, A/HRC/31/66. 7. O  SCE/ODIHR and Venice Commission, Guidelines on Freedom of Peaceful Assembly (3rd Edition), 2019, & Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Annual Report 2015, Chapter IV.A, The Use of Force, March 2016 & African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Guidelines on Freedom of Assembly, May 2017. 8. UN Committee against Torutre, Comms. No. 161/2000, No. 261/2005 and No. 368/2008. 9. UN Committee againnst Torture: Ukraine (CAT/C/UKR/CO/6) 2014, Burundi (CAT/C/BDI/CO/2) 2014, Spain (CAT/C/ESP/CO/6) 2015, China (CAT/C/CHN/CO/5) 2015, Armenia (CAT/C/ARM/CO/4) 2016, Peru (CAT/C/PER/CO/7) 2018, Benin (CAT/C/BEN/CO/3) 2019. 10. See, for example, European Court of Human Rights, İzci v. Turkey, 2013. 11. U  N General Assembly, Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, 18 December 2002, A/RES/57/199, article 4(2). 12. Human Rights Council, Report of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, 19 July 2017, A/HRC/36/37, para. 52. 4