HRC53 - Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions - EU Statement

UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL

53rd session

Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial,

summary or arbitrary executions

26 June 2023

EU Intervention

Mr President,

The European Union thanks the Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions, Mr. Morris Tidball-Binz, for his report on death in prisons.

Mr Special Rapporteur, in your report you call deaths in custody ’’a silent global tragedy’’. While the number of people who die in prisons globally is largely unknown, mortality rates in prisons are estimated to be at least 50 per cent higher than in the wider community. Relatively few of these deaths are investigated.

The European Union underlines the crucial importance of preventing any form of arbitrary deprivation of life, including in prison, and the importance of ensuring accountability when such killings occur. States have the duty to investigate any potentially unlawful death promptly, effectively, thoroughly, independently, impartially and transparently. We note your recommendation that the Minnesota Protocol on the Investigation of Potentially Unlawful Death must be observed.

We further note your argument on the need for more comprehensive, disaggregated and reliable data on all forms of deaths in prison.

Mr. Special Rapporteur, in your view: how could data collection be improved, to make deaths in prison less invisible and ensure better-informed policies to prevent and investigate them?