The epidemic of black men being killed at the hands of police officers in America has not gone unnoticed on the international stage. According to a
According to a report by a United Nations working group, which will be debated at the U.N. Human Rights Council on Monday, this situation constitutes a full-blown “human rights crisis” that is reminiscent of the days of lynchings.
“Contemporary police killings and the trauma that they create are reminiscent of the past racial terror of lynching,” said the report by the U.N. Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent.
The U.N. report draws a stark comparison between modern day fatal shootings at the hands of law enforcement and the lynchings of blacks that swept the nation in the 19th and 20th centuries. The report comes as racial tensions in America have boiled over yet again in the wake of more deadly shootings that have rocked the country.
Historically, the majority of African Americans killed in lynchings were hanged. The Equal Justice Initiative released a report in 2015 which said that between 1877 and 1950, an estimated 3,959 black people were murdered in “racial terror lynchings” throughout the country’s southern states.
The U.N. report follows a January visit to the U.S. by a five-member group, which was chaired by Filipino law professor Ricardo A. Sunga III. The group says that despite efforts at reform, they still remain “extremely concerned” about the “human rights crisis” facing blacks living in the U.S., and this is especially true considering protesters are once again flooding the streets of American cities to protest the killings of still more black men in recent days.
“In particular, the legacy of colonial history, enslavement, racial subordination and segregation, racial terrorism and racial inequality in the United States remains a serious challenge, as there has been no real commitment to reparations and to truth and reconciliation for people of African descent.
“Impunity for State violence has resulted in the current human rights crisis and must be addressed as a matter of urgency.”
The experts’ group pointed out that these killings go unpunished because the investigation is biased and tainted from the beginning since police departments are investigating their own. Adding to this is the fact that prosecutors have discretion when it comes to presenting charges and U.S. law enforcement officers are not held to international standards for use of force.
To address the situation, they recommended that the U.S. institute a system to reliably track police killings nationwide and instances of excessive use of force. They also said that racial profiling must be brought to an end, which is “a rampant practice and seriously damages the trust between African-Americans and law enforcement officials.”
The group also said that improving race relations will also require education that must be “accompanied by acts of reconciliation” in order to successfully overcome the bigotry that plagues the U.S. and the past injustices that have been perpetrated against black people on American soil. The report added that the lasting negative effects caused by enslavement and racial injustice must be recognized by both federal and state laws.