Protesters seek UN help on police abuses

Discouraged in their efforts to seek justice in cases of police brutality, which activists say have often involved extra-judicial killings of innocent Black and Latino youth, some rights groups based in the United States are now looking to the United Nations for help. Marching in front of the world body's headquarters on a mercilessly cold and windy evening on Jan. 29, protesters called for the international community to take serious note of ongoing human rights violations in the United States. "We are here in front of the UN because our communities are facing police attacks every single day," Amadi Ajamu, a leader of the December 12th Movement, a rights group campaigning against the targeting of minority youth, told IPS. In addition to carrying placards and banners, Ajamu and others displayed black-and-white pictures of dozens of young Black and Latino men who lost their lives as a result of indiscriminate police shootings in the past few years. "No more police state," they shouted in unison whenever a diplomat was seen coming in or out of the UN building. "We will fight for our human rights by any means necessary." Activists said they were compelled to turn to the UN for assistance because authorities in many US cities have failed to check "racist" police behavior, which deprives minority youth of fundamental human rights. Though the rally was part of the ongoing protests against the killing of Sean Bell, an unarmed 23-year-old African American man who was shot numerous times by local New York police last month, organizers said their demonstration was not just confined to one incident. "We are protesting against all the police killings of our brothers that have taken place in the past several years," said one demonstrator. "We cannot tolerate it any more." A 1998 report by Human Rights Watch said that "Abuse by law enforcement officers in the United States is one of the most serious and divisive human rights violations in the country [and includes] unjustified shootings, severe beatings, fatal chokings and unnecessarily rough treatment." Many at the event described Bell's killing as another manifestation of the racist police attitude towards black and Latino youth. As one of them said, "It is deeply rooted in the historical bias of the European settlers towards blacks, the natives, and other communities of color." Bell, who was shot 51 times, was supposed to attend his marriage ceremony mere hours after he breathed his last. At the rally, some human rights lawyers saw a pattern of consistent failure on the part of the US government in protecting minorities from police abuse and excesses, and that it was time for the world community to intervene. "The UN is supposed to address the human rights abuses being committed by its member states," Roger Wareham, a lawyer, told IPS. "It must look into such killings because they are the result of racist policies." Wareham and other protesters said they want regular monitoring by a UN rapporteur of the violations of minority rights in the United States, especially those related to racism, extra-judicial killings and torture of black and Latino youth. "They should come and see what is going on here and what steps need to be taken to end it," Wareham said. In the past few months, various UN reports on human rights have criticized the US for its failings in observing international standards, notably in the pursuit of its "war on terror." And though the US has signed and ratified the UN treaty on the elimination of racial discrimination, it continues to shy away from signing a number of other international agreements on rights. Convinced that bringing the US back into the realm of international norms of morality is vital to ensuring human rights at home, some grassroots groups are now pushing Washington to embrace all human rights treaties.