A/HRC/31/72 guide law enforcement officials when managing assemblies: restricting the use of force to circumstances of absolutely necessity, while ensuring that no one is subject to excessive or indiscriminate use of force. In accordance with the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, all places of detention by law enforcement should be subject to oversight and monitoring. 35. States should allocate sufficient resources to independently document, investigate and prosecute, promptly and thoroughly, all allegations of discrimination, or use of lethal or excessive or otherwise unlawful force by law enforcement officers against minorities. Military institutions such as military police forces that often operate under separate legal regimes should not be exempt from such investigations. Private security companies contracted to carry out law enforcement functions should be subject to the same standards and be investigated in case of any alleged discriminatory or abusive behaviour against minorities.3 36. New technologies, such as video capabilities, handheld devices and closed-circuit televisions, provide new avenues for civilian monitoring of law enforcement behaviour and can be useful advocacy tools for minority communities in exposing violations in encounters with law enforcement authorities. Attention should be paid to how these can be used to ensure accountability and justice for minorities. 2. Access to justice for minority offenders 37. States should ensure equal and effective access to justice and accountability measures for minority offenders. States should ensure that members of minorities are fully informed, in a language and means appropriate to their situation, of their rights as offenders, and should secure access to support, including competent legal assistance and interpretation services. 38. In accordance with the United Nations Principles and Guidelines on Access to Legal Aid in Criminal Justice Systems (para. 8), States should ensure access to legal aid as an essential element of a fair, humane and efficient criminal justice system based on the rule of law. Legal aid should include legal advice, assistance and representation, legal education and access to legal information and should be provided at no cost to minority offenders without discrimination when they do not have sufficient means or if it is in the interests of justice. This is particularly important in the early stages of the criminal justice process as actions taken or lack thereof will determine an offender’s ability to enjoy other human rights, such as rights to a fair trial, equality before the law or to liberty and security of person and to an effective remedy. 39. States should develop, in close consultation with key stakeholders, such as bar associations, law enforcement authorities, prosecutors, the judiciary, non-governmental organizations and civil society organizations, a national strategy for legal aid that identifies the need for such aid, with due regard for minority communities and individuals, especially those most marginalized and vulnerable to abuse. Such a strategy should also outline how best to appropriately deliver legal aid according to those needs. 40. States should develop and promulgate professional codes of conduct for legal aid providers, including lawyers, paralegals and those institutions providing legal aid services, that specifically incorporate international human rights standards for the protection of the 3 8 See UNODC Handbook on State Regulation concerning Civilian Private Security Services and their Contribution to Crime Prevention and Community Safety. Available at www.unodc.org/documents/ justice-and-prison-reform/crimeprevention/Ebook0.pdf.