The United Nations has called for an end to impunity for police who violate the human rights of black people. The UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet called for systemic racism against black people to be immediately dismantled around the world to avoid repeating outrages like the killing of George Floyd.
She urges countries worldwide to take concrete action against discrimination, violence and systemic racism. Launched in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd in the US last year, it specifically calls on UN member states including Britain to end “impunity” for police officers’ abuses.
The UN Human Rights Commission found after analyzing 190 deaths around the world that police officers are rarely held accountable for killing black people. It occurs due in part to deficient probes and an unwillingness to acknowledge the impact of structural racism.
The commission heard from the families of those killed in police custody, including Wendy Clarke, whose son Kevin Clarke died after the inappropriate use of restraints by the Met Police.
Warnings from Clarke, who had paranoid schizophrenia, that he could not breathe were likely heard by the officers involved in the incident, an inquest found last year.
UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet, who issued the report, branded the status quo “untenable” and called on all states to “stop denying and start dismantling racism.”
She said, “Systemic racism needs a systemic response. There needs to be a comprehensive rather than a piecemeal approach to dismantling systems entrenched in centuries of discrimination and violence.”
Bachelet, a former president of Chile, hailed the efforts of advocacy groups such as Black Lives Matter, which she said have helped to provide “grassroots leadership through listening to communities” and should receive “funding, public recognition and support.”
