Families of Victims of Police Violence, ACLU, Organizations Call for U.N. Inquiry into Police Violence and Systemic Racism in the United States
NEW YORK — The American Civil Liberties Union, more than 270 civil society organizations from around the world, and 171 families of victims of police violence are calling on the United Nations Human Rights Council to establish an independent commission of inquiry into police killings of Black men and women as well as violent law enforcement responses to protests in the United States.
In a letter sent to the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet today, the groups urge the U.N. to support the calls made by victims’ families and others to mandate an independent inquiry into police violence and provide recommendations for a national plan of action to eliminate systemic racism and racial discrimination in the United States. This includes the allocation of resources to achieve racial equality through the adoption of reparations and other programs to remedy historic racial injustices.
The letter states that a robust international accountability mechanism would further support and complement, not undermine, efforts to dismantle systemic racism in the United States, especially in the context of police violence against Black people.
“Extrajudicial killings of Black Americans by policemen in the United States is one of the most egregious examples of human rights violations recorded in history,” said Collette Flanagan, founder and CEO of Mothers Against Police Brutality. “I am in hopes that the U.N. will summon the courage from its previous extraordinary works to hold the U.S. accountable for its violations of human rights by establishing a commission of inquiry.”
Police in the United States have killed in just the first four months of this year alone. The epidemic of police violence disproportionately harms Black, Indigenous, and Latinx people. Black and Indigenous people in 2019 were nearly three times more likely than white people to be fatally shot by police. Yet, police rarely face consequences for these killings: Between 2005 and 2015, were charged after police killings, despite thousands of incidents over the same time period.
“Police violence is not a uniquely American problem, but the impunity and disproportionate killing of Black, Brown, and Indigenous people at the hands of law enforcement are, and it requires the entire international community to act,” said Jamil Dakwar, director of the ACLU’s Human Rights Program. “If the Biden administration is serious about addressing police violence and its pledge to lead by the power of example, it should welcome international scrutiny into the nation’s domestic human rights record. The administration must heed the pleas of George Floyd’s family and hundreds of other family members of victims of police violence to establish a U.N. commission of inquiry to hold the U.S. accountable for the rampant systemic racism that perpetuates law enforcement violence.”
Today’s letter was accompanied by a second letter sent by victims’ families and the groups to the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of African States urging them to continue applying pressure on the U.N. Human Rights Council to establish an inquiry. The African Group called on the council to establish a commission of inquiry last year following the police murder of George Floyd and subsequent racial justice protests, but the council instead adopted a watered-down resolution due to diplomatic pressure from the Trump administration and U.S. allies. Instead, the adopted resolution mandated the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights to prepare a report on systemic racism and police violence globally, which will be submitted during the upcoming session of the council this summer.
The main organizers of the letters include the ACLU, Mothers Against Police Brutality, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, U.S. Human Rights Network, and the International Service for Human Rights. The letter is also endorsed by the National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and the families of George Floyd and Daunte Wright, among many others.
Below is additional comment from:
Sakira Cook, senior director of the Justice Reform Program at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights:
"The United Nations can and should play a critical role in supporting efforts to dismantle systemic racism in the United States and around the world, especially in the context of police violence against Black people. It is our hope that this international body will pursue a commission of inquiry that can address police violence and systemic racism. It’s past time for our nation to tackle racial inequity, injustice, and discrimination that permeates American life and institutions. While progress has come slowly, hopefully an international inquiry can help produce transformative change more rapidly."
Dr. Vickie Casanova-Willis, executive director of the U.S. Human Rights Network:
“We applaud the courageous and historic actions of family members and allies which generated an outcry that has reverberated around the world. Their heart-wrenching cries for justice demand full accountability and implementation of the recommendations in 43/1 to ensure that not one more person is murdered by state violence, as police continue to execute African American/African/African Descendant people at a genocidal rate. Continued solidarity demanding human rights standards of accountability is vital to ensure they did not die in vain.”
The letter to the U.N. High Commissioner on Human Rights is here: /letter/coalition-letter-calling-united-nations-inquiry-us-police-violence
The letter to the African Group is here: /letter/coalition-letter-un-african-group-ensuring-effective-accountability-police-violence-us
Learn More About the Issues in This Press Release
-
News & CommentaryDec 2024
Human Rights
Failed War on Drugs Policies Won't Stop the Overdose Crisis, But Harm Reduction Can Save LivesFailed War on Drugs Policies Won't Stop the Overdose Crisis, But Harm Reduction Can Save Lives
Research shows extensive benefits from syringe exchange and other harm reduction programs. But misguided efforts to ban common sense care continue. -
News & CommentaryDec 2024
Racial Justice
Human Rights
Why the Fight for Racial Justice is a Human Rights IssueWhy the Fight for Racial Justice is a Human Rights Issue
On International Human Rights Day, the ACLU is advocating for a long-sought after reparatory justice to end the continued abuses against Black and brown communities. -
Press ReleaseOct 2024
Human Rights
Free Speech
Universities Should Protect Students’ Right to Protest, End Crackdown on Peaceful ProtestsUniversities Should Protect Students’ Right to Protest, End Crackdown on Peaceful Protests
WASHINGTON – College and university presidents across the U.S. need to respect and protect the right to protest in support of Palestinian rights the American Civil Liberties Union, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch said today in an open letter. For months the organizations have raised concerns about the potential use of unlawful force when university administrators call in law enforcement officers to break up demonstrations on campus. This new letter comes after reports of heavy-handed and excessive force by some campus police and local law enforcement against peaceful protests and encampments across the country. The groups provide recommendations for colleges and universities to ensure they protect the right to protest on their campuses. The organizations also urge university administrations to refrain from taking any further measures to suppress student protests on campus, including stopping the use of so-called less lethal weapons and ensuring that coercive police power is used only as a last resort, among other recommendations. “Universities are responsible for protecting both physical safety and free expression on campus,” said Jamil Dakwar, director at the ACLU’s Human Rights Program. “It’s deeply concerning to see universities needlessly expose students to police violence for peacefully expressing their political opinions. We’re urging schools once again to exercise restraint, practice de-escalation, and protect free speech and dissent on campus.” Preliminary analysis by Amnesty International’s Digital Verification Corps has identified at least 174 photos, videos, or social media posts from 20 universities of potential excessive use of force by law enforcement under international law that merits further investigation. This includes 17 universities where chemical irritants such as pepper spray appear to have been used against student protesters, and 11 universities where officers appear to have responded to protests armed with kinetic impact projectiles such as rubber bullets. The results of this use of force by law enforcement agencies have been devastating, including media-verified reports of severe injuries such as bleeding puncture wounds, head injuries, broken teeth, and suspected broken bones, most notably at the University of California Los Angeles, Columbia University, and the City College of New York. The Digital Verification Corps also documented at least 10 other universities where photos or videos capture potential injuries to students. It found that half of the incidents involving injuries under investigation appear to be the result of chemical irritants. “The information we have gathered on excessive use of force against student protesters is extremely worrisome and we are still in the beginning of our investigation,” said Justin Mazzola, researcher with Amnesty International USA. “With the continuation of the Israeli military’s assault on Gaza and the risk of US complicity through the sending of weapons, campus protests in favor of stopping the violence and destruction will continue. Universities have a responsibility to protect academic freedom and the rights to freedom of expression, and to peacefully protest, and we will be watching to ensure they do.” The ACLU, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch are not alone in their concern. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and several UN experts, including the UN special rapporteur on the right to education, have criticized the violent crackdown on peaceful demonstrators by law enforcement and disciplinary measures against students exercising their rights to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression. All higher education institutions, even private colleges and universities, where the First Amendment is not applicable, have a responsibility to respect the right to freedom of peaceful assembly under international law. “Instead of resorting to police action that both shuts down free speech and heightens the risk of injuries, universities need to do more to protect student speech from violence and intimidation, and actively ensure that peaceful student expression continues without interference,” said Tanya Greene, director of the US program at Human Rights Watch. As the letter explains, the ACLU, Amnesty International USA, and Human Rights Watch are conducting research and analysis of how campus administrators are responding to student protests. They urge universities to fulfill their human rights responsibilities by facilitating protests and ensuring that all students' rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, regardless of viewpoint, is respected. A comprehensive joint report on this issue is slated to be released by the ACLU and Amnesty International USA in the coming months. The open letter is available here: /documents/letter-to-universities-student-protesters -
News & CommentaryOct 2024
Immigrants' Rights
Human Rights
Three Ways the Media Introduces Bias to the Immigration DebateThree Ways the Media Introduces Bias to the Immigration Debate
Ahead of the election, we examined how political ads and news media stories depict the immigration debate as more negative than it may be.