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Human rights are ‘rights inherent to all human beings’ that a state is obliged to protect and promote.[1] A state violates human rights when it fails to take steps to promote and advance them. One way in which the state may fail in this regard is by not restraining itself in the use of force according to formal legal provisions. This may be reflected in, for example, the necessity to observe proportionality in the use of force in relation to the specific threat in question.[2]
If there are human rights violations in a country and strong rule of law mechanisms and culture are lacking, the risks of both violence and further violations of human rights during the electoral period increase significantly.[3] For example, during political rallies a lack of appropriate police guidelines and training with respect to crowd control and the use of force, in combination with a lack of sound and efficient accountability mechanisms, can lead to violence generated by the security services.[4]
Empirical cases:
[1] Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), ‘What Are Human Rights?’, available at <http://www.ohchr.org/en/issues/Pages/WhatareHumanRights.aspx>, accessed 23 June 2011.
[2] Steiner, Henry J., ‘International Protection of Human Rights’, in Malcolm D. Evans (ed.), International Law, 2nd edn (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006), p. 772.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Alston, ‘Report of the Special Rapporteur’, p. 15.
[5] UN Human Rights Council, ‘Interim Report of the Secretary-General on the Situation of Human Rights in Iran’, 16th session, UN document A/HRC/16/75, pp. 4–14.
[6] Alem, Yasmin, Duality by Design: The Iranian Electoral System (Washington, DC: International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), 2011), p. 52.
[7] Alston, ‘Report of the Special Rapporteur’, p. 16; Human Rights Watch, ‘Post-Election Iran’, 2010, available at <http://www.hrw.org/en/node/83044>, accessed 8 July 2011; and Human Rights Watch, ‘The Islamic Republic at 31: Post-Election Abuses Show Serious Human Rights Crisis’, New York, 2010, p. 1.
[8] Human Rights Watch, ‘The Islamic Republic at 31’, p. 1; UN Human Rights Council, ‘Interim Report of the Secretary-General on the Situation of Human Rights in Iran’, p. 52; Alston, ‘Report of the Special Rapporteur’, p. 16; and Human Rights Watch, ‘Post-Election Iran’.
[9] Human Rights Watch, ‘Côte d’Ivoire: The Human Rights Cost of the Political Impasse, A Human Rights Watch Report’, 2005, pp. 1–2.
[10] UN Human Rights Council, ‘Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the Situation of Human Rights in Côte d’Ivoire’, 16th session, UN document A/HRC/16/79, pp. 1–2; International Crisis Group, ‘Côte d’Ivoire: Is War the Only Option?’, Africa Report no. 171 (Dakar/Brussels: ICG, 2011), pp. 1–3; and Human Rights Watch, ‘Côte d’Ivoire: ICC Prosecutor Seeks Investigation’, Brussels, 2011, available at <http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/06/23/c-te-d-ivoire-icc-prosecutor-seeks-investigation>, accessed 11 July 2011.
[11] Human Rights Watch, ‘Côte d’Ivoire: The Human Rights Cost’; UN Human Rights Council, ‘Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the Situation of Human Rights in Côte d’Ivoire’; Human Rights Watch, ‘Côte d’Ivoire: ICC Prosecutor Seeks Investigation’; and International Crisis Group, ‘Côte d’Ivoire: Is War the Only Option?’.
[12] International Crisis Group, ‘A Critical Period for Ensuring Stability in Côte d’Ivoire’, Africa Report no. 176 (1 August 2011e), <https://www.crisisgroup.org/africa/west-africa/c%C3%B4te-divoire/critical-period-ensuring-stability-cote-d-ivoire>, accessed 2 May 2018
[13] UN News Centre, ‘ICC Prosecutor Seeks Authorization to Probe Côte d’Ivoire Violence’, 23 June 2011, available at <http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=38817&Cr=Ivoire&Cr1>, accessed 27 June 2012.
[14] ‘Ivory Coast Deadline for ICC Testimony’, BBC News, 17 June 2011, available at <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13815109>, accessed 23 September 2011; and Aljazeera.net, ‘“Hundreds killed” in Cote d’Ivoire Violence’, available at <http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/04/201141232021597365.html>, accessed 23 September 2011.
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