UN body urges US to publicly acknowledge structural racism

Protesters gather in Leeds, England, during a protest by Black Voices Matter. Global protests are taking place in the wake of George Floyd’s death who was killed on May 25 while in police custody in the US city of Minneapolis. Picture: Danny Lawson/PA via AP

Protesters gather in Leeds, England, during a protest by Black Voices Matter. Global protests are taking place in the wake of George Floyd’s death who was killed on May 25 while in police custody in the US city of Minneapolis. Picture: Danny Lawson/PA via AP

Published Jun 15, 2020

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Geneva - The US government should publicly admit that

structural racism exists in the United States, the UN racism watchdog

demanded on Monday.

The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination also

urged the US administration in a statement to "unequivocally and

unconditionally reject and condemn racially motivated killings of

African Americans and other minorities."

The committee that is composed of 18 independent experts from around

the world called on Washington to step up probes into alleged police

misconduct, including excessive force during the ongoing protests

against racially motivated police brutality.

The UN body reiterated that there should be systematic anti-racism

training for US officials at the federal, state and local levels.

The Human Rights Council, the top UN rights body, is set to discuss

entrenched racism in the US and across the world in a rare

extraordinary debate on Wednesday.

African countries had requested an urgent debate on racially inspired

human rights violations, systemic racism, police brutality and

violence against peaceful protest.

The death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis "sparked

protests all over the world against the injustice and brutality that

People of African Descent face daily in many parts of the world," the

African countries said in their proposal letter.

This will be only the fifth urgent debate that the Human Rights

Council has held since it was founded in 2006. The previous ones

dealt with blocked aid for Palestinians and with the situation in

Syria.

The United States gave up its membership in the top UN rights body in

2018. President Donald Trump's administration criticized the council

for including known rights violators among its member countries, and

for frequently singling out Israel's treatment of Palestinians.

dpa

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