CCPR/C/GC/36 suicides and providing reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities. 87 A heightened duty to protect the right to life also applies to individuals quartered in libertyrestricting State-run facilities, such as mental health facilities, 88 military camps,89 refugee camps and camps for internally displaced persons,90 juvenile institutions and orphanages. 26. The duty to protect life also implies that States parties should take appropriate measures to address the general conditions in society that may give rise to direct threats to life or prevent individuals from enjoying their right to life with dignity. These general conditions may include high levels of criminal and gun violence, 91 pervasive traffic and industrial accidents,92 degradation of the environment (see also para. 62 below),93 deprivation of indigenous peoples’ land, territories and resources, 94 the prevalence of life-threatening diseases, such as AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria,95 extensive substance abuse, widespread hunger and malnutrition and extreme poverty and homelessness.96 The measures called for to address adequate conditions for protecting the right to life include, where necessary, measures designed to ensure access without delay by individuals to essential goods and services such as food, 97 water, shelter, health care, 98 electricity and sanitation, and other measures designed to promote and facilitate adequate general conditions, such as the bolstering of effective emergency health services, emergency response operations (including firefighters, ambulance services and police forces) and social housing programmes. States parties should also develop strategic plans for advancing the enjoyment of the right to life, which may comprise measures to fight the stigmatization associated with disabilities and diseases, including sexually transmitted diseases, which hamper access to medical care;99 detailed plans to promote education for non-violence; and campaigns for raising awareness of gender-based violence100 and harmful practices,101 and for improving access to medical examinations and treatments designed to reduce maternal and infant mortality. 102 Furthermore, States parties should also develop, when necessary, contingency plans and disaster management plans designed to increase preparedness and address natural and manmade disasters that may adversely affect enjoyment of the right to life, such as hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes, radioactive accidents and massive cyberattacks resulting in disruption of essential services. 27. An important element of the protection afforded to the right to life by the Covenant is the obligation on the States parties, where they know or should have known of potentially unlawful deprivations of life, to investigate and, where appropriate, prosecute the perpetrators of such incidents, including incidents involving allegations of excessive use of force with lethal consequences (see also para. 64 below). 103 The duty to investigate also arises in circumstances in which a serious risk of deprivation of life was caused by the use of potentially lethal force, even if the risk did not materialize (see also para. 7 above). This obligation is implicit in the obligation to protect and is reinforced by the general duty to ensure the rights recognized in the Covenant, which is articulated in article 2 (1), when read in conjunction with article 6 (1), and the duty to provide an effective remedy to victims of human rights violations104 and their relatives,105 which is articulated in article 2 (3) of the Covenant, when read in conjunction with article 6 (1). Investigations and prosecutions of potentially unlawful deprivations of life should be undertaken in accordance with relevant international standards, including the Minnesota Protocol on the Investigation of Potentially Unlawful Death, and must be aimed at ensuring that those responsible are brought to justice, 106 at promoting accountability and preventing impunity, 107 at avoiding denial of justice108 and at drawing necessary lessons for revising practices and policies with a view to avoiding repeated violations. 109 Investigations should explore, inter alia, the legal responsibility of superior officials with regard to violations of the right to life committed by their subordinates.110 Given the importance of the right to life, States parties must generally refrain from addressing violations of article 6 merely through administrative or disciplinary measures, and a criminal investigation is normally required, which should lead, if enough incriminating evidence is gathered, to a criminal prosecution.111 Immunities and amnesties provided to perpetrators of intentional killings and to their superiors, and comparable measures leading to de facto or de jure impunity, are, as a rule, incompatible with the duty to respect and ensure the right to life, and to provide victims with an effective remedy.112 28. Investigations into allegations of violations of article 6 must always be independent,113 impartial,114 prompt,115 thorough,116 effective,117 credible118 and transparent (see also para. 64 below).119 In the event that a violation is found, full reparation must be provided, including, 6