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Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions

Argentina-RC1CFE04E320-Reuters

About the mandate

Without respect for the right to life, no other human right can be upheld. Extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions – meaning the deliberate killing of individuals outside of any legal framework - are a violation of this most fundamental right.

The Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions is an independent human rights expert appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council. The mandate of the Special Rapporteur was established in 1982 and has been renewed numerous times, most recently in June 2023 (HRC resolution 53/04). The mandate of the Special Rapporteur covers all countries, irrespective of whether a State has ratified relevant international Conventions.

Learn more about the mandate and its methods of work

Current mandate holder

Morris Tidball-Binz

Mr. Morris Tidball-Binz was appointed the UN Special Rapporteur on extra-judicial summary or arbitrary executions, on 1 April 2021. Mr. Morris Tidball-Binz (Viña del Mar, Chile, 1957) is a medical doctor specialized in forensic science, human rights and humanitarian action. Over the past 35 years, he has conducted fact-finding, technical assessments and capacity building missions to over 70 countries in all regions.

Read Mr. Tidball-Binz's full biography

Key documents


The Minnesota Protocol on the Investigation of Potentially Unlawful Death (2016): The Revised United Nations Manual on the Effective Prevention and Investigation of Extra-legal, Arbitrary and Summary Executions

The Minnesota Protocol was drafted in 1991 as a companion document to the 1989 UN Principles on the Effective Prevention and Investigation of Extra-legal, Arbitrary and Summary Executions. It was revised in 2016.


UN Principles on the Effective Prevention and Investigation of Extra-legal, Arbitrary and Summary Executions

The principles were recommended by Economic and Social Council resolution 1989/65 on 24 May 1989.
English | Français (Online) | Español (PDF)


Contact Information

Mr. Morris Tidball-Binz
Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions
OHCHR-UNOG
8-14 Avenue de la Paix
1211 Geneve 10
Switzerland

Email: [email protected]

Former Special Rapporteurs

Ms. Agnes Callamard
(France),
August 2016 - March 2021

Mr. Christof Heyns
(South Africa),
August 2010 - July 2016

Mr. Philip Alston
(Australia),
August 2004 – July 2010

Ms. Asma Jahangir
(Pakistan),
1998-July 2004

Mr. Bacre Waly Ndiaye
(Senegal),
1992-1998

Mr. S. Amos Wako
(Kenya),
1982-1992