Morris Tidball-Binz
Role at the time: United Nations special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions
Condemned
Response to this claim
A presumption favoring lawful firearm use could weaken the active search for evidence and increase the risk that potentially arbitrary deprivations of life go without accountability.
“Every potentially unlawful death involving law enforcement officials must be investigated through a prompt, thorough, effective, independent, impartial and transparent investigation. The duty to investigate every potentially unlawful killing rests with the State. It cannot be displaced, in law or in practice, by requiring victims or their families to rebut a legal presumption that the use of potentially lethal force was lawful before the facts have been independently established.”
Read the official statement (opens in a new tab)France: Proposed presumption of lawful police shootings could fuel impunity, warns UN expertStatements attributed to Morris Tidball-Binz
Why we used this label
Relative to the proposed statutory presumption, Tidball-Binz expressly urges rejection and argues that it threatens independent investigation and accountability. This is direct condemnation of the policy.