A group of human rights experts of the UN has urged the United States to put an end to racial profiling in the country amid police killings of black men.
In a statement on Friday, the experts criticized grand juries after they decided in recent weeks not to indict two police officers for killing two African-Americans.
White police officer Darren Wilson shot dead black teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri in August and white officer Daniel Pantaleo killed Eric Garner in New York City in July.
The chokehold death of Garner was recorded on videos that have been widely seen and have contributed to the public outrage. In the video, Garner repeatedly told police officers “I can’t breathe! I can’t breathe!”
The experts said that sending the two cases to trial would have brought all evidence to light and allowed justice to take its course.
Rita Izsak, UN special rapporteur on minority issues, voiced concerns over the decisions of the grand juries.
“The decisions leave many with legitimate concerns relating to a pattern of impunity when the victims of excessive use of force come from African-American or other minority communities,” she said.
Mutuma Ruteere, UN special rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, slammed discriminatory practices including racial profiling by American police officers and said that those practices must be eradicated.
The use of lethal force is only allowed by international law where it is absolutely necessary to protect life, according to another official.
“The laws of many of the states in the US are much more permissive, creating an atmosphere where there are not enough constraints on the use of force. A comprehensive review of the system is needed,” Christof Heyns, UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, said.
AGB/AGB
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