government continued to pursue death noting that 23,000 un-serialized firearms sentences in certain cases. State executions (known as “ghost guns”) were reported to resumed in 2021 following a lull in 2020 due have been recovered by law enforcement to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic as well as from potential crime scenes between 2016 the conclusion of litigation over the execution and 2020. protocols in certain states. In November 2021, the US Supreme Court TORTURE AND OTHER ILL-TREATMENT heard its first case regarding gun rights in over a decade. The eventual decision in this A decade after dozens of detainees were held case could determine whether individuals in a CIA-operated secret detention system – may carry a firearm in public without authorized from 2001 to 2009 – no one had demonstrating “proper cause” or meeting been brought to justice for the systematic licensing thresholds. human rights violations committed under that UNLAWFUL KILLINGS OF CIVILIANS programme, including enforced disappearance, torture and other ill- The US government repeatedly used lethal treatment. The Senate Intelligence force in countries around the world, including Committee’s report on CIA torture remained with armed drones, in violation of its classified, years after the limited obligations under international human rights investigations conducted into those crimes law and, where applicable, international were closed without charges being brought humanitarian law. NGOs, UN experts and the against anyone. news media documented how such strikes RIGHT TO LIFE AND SECURITY OF THE inside and outside zones of active armed PERSON conflict resulted in injuries or arbitrarily deprived protected individuals, including The US Congress did not pass any many civilians, of their right to life, in some regulations on access to firearms in 2021. cases constituting war crimes. The government’s ongoing failure to protect The US government weakened protections people from persistent gun violence for civilians during lethal operations, which continued to violate their human rights, increased the likelihood of unlawful killings; including the rights to life, security of the impeded the assessment of the legality of person and freedom from discrimination, strikes; and prevented accountability and among others. access to justice and effective remedies for A surge in gun sales during the Covid-19 victims of unlawful killings and civilian harm. pandemic, unfettered access to firearms, a The government continued to withhold lack of comprehensive gun safety laws information regarding the legal and policy (including effective regulation of firearm standards and criteria applied by US forces acquisition, possession and use), and a when using lethal force, despite calls by UN failure to invest in adequate gun violence human rights experts to clarify such points. prevention and intervention programmes, Authorities also failed to provide reparations perpetuated this violence. for civilian killings. The Biden administration At least 44,000 people were estimated to commenced a review of lethal force policies, have been killed by gun violence in 2020. yet failed to provide any information about During the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and how or whether those policies would change. 2021 some state government authorities Meanwhile, US forces continued to engage in exacerbated gun violence by designating gun drone strikes, resulting in the unlawful killing stores as “essential businesses”. and wounding of civilians. In May, the US Department of Justice RIGHT TO HOUSING proposed a regulation that would update the definitions of “firearm” and related firearm In March, the Biden administration accepted components for the first time since 1968, UPR recommendations by the UN Human Amnesty International Report 2021/22 393