A coalition of human rights lawyers and human rights experts from 11 countries carried out an independent probe into America’s policing. Earlier this year, it held public hearings on 43 cases of Black Americans who died at the hands of police, as well as one case in which a person was left paralyzed. And last month, the coalition released its 188-page report.
The report says that the deadly police killings of Black Americans could amount to crimes against humanity. And that police’s “severe deprivation of physical liberty” and use of chokeholds amount to torture – a human rights violation under international law.
The report revealed the emotional toll this has had on Black families, as experts reviewed the cases of Floyd, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, Michael Brown, Freddie Gray, Breonna Taylor, and dozens of others killed at the hands of police. It’s a toll only made worse by the rarity of police convictions. Investigators found that only 35 police officers have been convicted in the roughly 15,000 deaths by law enforcement since 2005.
Human rights experts are urging the UN’s International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate America’s policing and prosecute any human rights violations. Read the article HERE, and The Report of the International Commission of Inquiry on Systemic Racist Police Violence Against People of African Descent in the United States HERE.