Enhancing the Implementation of the State’s Duty to Investigate Targeted Killings In the Case-Law of the European Court of Human Rights and American Court of Human Rights

Abstract

Summary: I. Introduction. II. THE PHENOMENON OF TARGETED KILLINGS IN ITS HISTORICAL DIMENSION. III. THE PHENOMENON OF TARGETED KILLINGS IN ITS LEGAL AND SOCIAL DIMENSIONS. IV. THE INTERNATIONAL LEGAL STANDARDS ON THE INVESTIGATION OF TARGETED KILLINGS. V. The Two Major Human Rights Systems of Adjudication. 1. The ECHR System of Human Rights Protection. A. Right under the ECHR Convention. B. The Duty to Investigate Targeted Killings in the Case-Law of the ECtHR. 2. The ACHR System of Human Rights Protection. A. Rights Under the ACHR. B. The State’s Duty to Investigate Targeted Killings in the Case-Law of the ACtHR. VI. THE EUROPEAN AND INTER AMERICAN COURTS OF HUMAN RIGHTS SHOULD USE THE UNITED NATIONS PRINCIPLES AND THE PROTOCOL OF MINNESOTA FOR ASSESSING COMPLIANCE WITH THE STATE’S OBLIGATION TO INVESTIGATE TARGETED KILLINGS. 1. The European and Inter American Courts Fail to Provide That the State’s Duty to Investigate Targeted Killings is Not Necessarily Triggered by a Formal Complaint to the Police. 2. The European and Inter-American Courts’ Approach Fail to Provide Practical Guidance on How Crime Scene and Forensic Investigations Should Be Conducted in Cases of Potentially Unlawful Deaths. VII. FURTHER CONCLUDING RECOMMENDATIONS: THE ECtHR SHOULD CHANGE ITS ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE BURDEN OF PROOF IN TARGETED KILLING CASES.