A/HRC/48/Add.xx
political approaches to border governance, the discriminatory effects of digital borders
highlighted in this report cannot be redressed. States must comply with international
human rights obligation to prevent racial discrimination in border and immigration
enforcement and implement the recommendations provided in report A/HRC/44/57.
States should also follow the guidance provided by interventions such as the Principles
on Deprivation of Nationality as a National Security Measure, 181 and the Principles of
Protection for Migrants, Refugees, and Displaced People During COVID-19182 which
articulate existing State obligations, including with respect to equality and nondiscrimination, to ensure the human rights of migrants, refugees, stateless persons and
related groups.
64.
Adopt and strengthen human rights-based racial equality and nondiscrimination legal and policy approaches to the use of digital technologies in border
and immigration enforcement and administration. There currently exists no integrated
regulatory global governance framework for the use of automated and other digital
technologies, which only raises the importance of existing international human rights
legal obligations in the regulation of the design and use of these technologies.
65.
Pursue the action steps prescribed by General Recommendation No. 36 of the
Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on preventing and combatting
racial profiling by law enforcement officials, particularly those recommendations for
comporting the use of artificial intelligence with international human rights law.
66.
Ensure, both at the domestic and international levels, that border and
immigration enforcement and administration are subject to binding legal obligations to
prevent, combat and remedy racial and xenophobic discrimination in the design and
use of digital border technologies. These obligations include but are not limited to:
(a)
Swift and effective action to prevent and mitigate the risk of the racially
discriminatory use and design of digital border technologies, including by making racial
equality and non-discrimination human rights impact assessments a prerequisite for
the public deployment of systems. These impact assessments must incorporate
meaningful opportunity for co-design and co-implementation with representatives of
racially or ethnically marginalized groups, including refugees, migrants, stateless
persons and related groups. A purely or even mainly voluntary approach to equality
impact assessments will not suffice; a mandatory approach is essential;
(b)
An immediate moratorium on the procurement, sale, transfer and use of
surveillance technology, until robust human rights safeguards are in place to regulate
such practices. These safeguards include human rights due diligence that complies with
international human rights law prohibitions on racial discrimination, independent
oversight, strict privacy and data protection laws, and full transparency about the use
of surveillance tools such as image recordings and facial recognition technology. In
some cases, it will be necessary to impose outright bans on technology that cannot meet
the standards enshrined in international human rights legal frameworks prohibiting
racial discrimination;
(c)
Ensuring transparency and accountability for private and public sector
use of digital border technologies, and enabling independent analysis and oversight,
including by only using systems that are auditable;
(d)
Imposing legal obligations on private corporations to prevent, combat and
remedy racial and xenophobic discrimination due to digital border technologies;
(e)
Ensuring that public-private partnerships in the provision and use of
digital border technologies are transparent and subject to independent human rights
oversight, and do not result in abdication of government accountability for human
rights.
181
182
20
Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion et al.
Zolberg Institute on Migration and Mobility et al., “Principles of Protection for Migrants, Refugees,
and Displaced People During COVID-19,” (2020).