The right to have one's death recorded logically arises from the existing human rights law. The principle most certainly applies in relation to the registration of birth, which is regarded as necessary to invest the person with full legal personality and status, thus the recognition of the cessation of the life of a person can itself be seen as a right.
People have the right to expect treatment with dignity after death, and anthropological research confirms that respect for the dead is universally consistent. Similarly, the living relatives of the deceased have the right to information regarding their loved ones. Official confirmation of the death of a loved one may also be needed in practical terms, in order to claim widow’s benefits for example. Wider society has a right to information, especially with regard to historical truth. This right is particularly crucial when situations of conflict and mass atrocity are at hand. The primary role of International Human Rights Law (IHRL) with regard to recording deaths is to protect against anonymous death and to oblige the state to account for missing persons.
DISCUSSION PAPER: THE LEGAL OBLIGATION TO RECORD CIVILIAN CASUALTIES OF ARMED CONFLICT, p. 14
