26/ POLICING ASSEMBLIES IN AFRICA: Guidelines for the Policing of Assemblies by Law Enforcement Officials in Africa planning, internal and external communication, deployment and equipment; the use of force; the health, safety and working conditions of law enforcement officials deployed to the operation (in particular where law enforcement officials died or were seriously injured); and tactics, decision-making and future training needs. 24.2. Law enforcement agencies are encouraged to make reports of the debriefing available to any person, including but not limited to, assembly organisers, participants, oversight authorities and other relevant stakeholders. 24.3. Any use of force by law enforcement officials during the conduct of an assembly operation should be subject to an automatic and prompt review by a competent and independent authority. Law enforcement officials who are the subject of a review must not be deployed to assembly operations until the conclusion of such review. 24.4. The discharge of a firearm by a law enforcement official during an assembly operation must be promptly reported by operational command to a competent authority, such as any oversight authority with a mandate to review and report on police conduct and operations. 24.5. State Parties must conduct a thorough investigation and account of circumstances surrounding every case of death or serious injury of persons in the context of assemblies. 24.6. If a person dies as a result of law enforcement action, a prompt, impartial and independent inquiry into the cause of death must be undertaken by an independent judicial authority. The purpose of the investigation is to determine the cause, manner and time of death, the persons responsible, and any pattern or practice that may have brought about that death. The investigating authority must have access to all necessary information and persons to conduct their inquiry. 24.7. Law enforcement agencies should publicly communicate the findings of any internal debriefings and/or investigations, whether internal and external, resulting from each assembly operation. APCOF Guidelines on policing assemblies TEXT.indd 26 12/04/2017 17:07:44