Argentina: Modify Resolution on Use of Force

Source: Human Rights Watch

December 6, 2018 3:59PM EST
Argentina: Modify Resolution on Use of Force
Rules Grant Federal Agents Overly Broad Discretion to Use Firearms


(Washington, D.C.) – A new government resolution in Argentina to regulate the use of firearms by security agents runs counter to basic human rights standards and could encourage shootings in unjustifiable circumstances, Human Rights Watch said today.

On December 3, 2018, the Argentine Security Ministry approved a resolution regarding the use of firearms by members of federal security forces. The resolution cites the UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials, which provide authoritative guidance concerning use of force by security officers. However, the Argentine resolution contains loopholes and ambiguities that could allow security officers to employ firearms in an unacceptably broad set of circumstances.

“The resolution cites to the UN principles on the use of force, but in fact it fails to adhere to them,” said José Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at Human Rights Watch. “The Argentine government should promptly review this resolution to ensure that it puts more appropriate limits on the use of firearms and clearly requires any deliberate lethal use of firearms to be strictly unavoidable to protect life.”

The government claimed that, under previous norms, federal agents could not use firearms to “detain delinquents or stop them from fleeing, even if they had killed or tried to kill someone,” nor to stop the commission of grave crimes because agents “had to wait until the aggressor shot first.”



Read more: https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/12/06/argentina-modify-resolution-use-force#

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The news regarding dictatorship-supporting Argentinian President Mauricio Macri, Trump supporter, and his new resolution was posted at DU Latin America forum yesterday by sandensea. It's appalling:

Argentina's Macri authorizes use of lethal force against fleeing suspects
https://www.democraticunderground.com/110863931#op