The United Nations has analysed racial justice, specifically regarding the global treatment of Black people by law enforcement, in a new report.
The 23-pager also highlighted the 2018 death of Kevin Clarke in Lewisham, South East London. 35-year-old Clarke appeared to have a mental health crisis and died due to unreasonable police restraint. The report draws parallels to the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor in the US and the killings of Adama Traoré in France and Matos Pinto in Brazil, plus over 150 other cases from around the world.
Spearheaded by Michelle Bachelet—UN high commissioner for human rights and the former president of Chile—following the murder of George Floyd, she says that “systemic racism needs a systemic response. We need a transformative approach that tackles the interconnected areas that drive racism, and lead to repeated, wholly avoidable, tragedies like the death of George Floyd.”
She added: “There needs to be a comprehensive rather than a piecemeal approach to dismantling systems entrenched in centuries of discrimination and violence. I am calling on all states to stop denying, and start dismantling, racism; to end impunity and build trust; to listen to the voices of people of African descent; and to confront past legacies and deliver redress.”
The report highlights a disproportionate number of people of African descent who have less than sub-par encounters with the criminal justice system and law enforcement worldwide. Wendy, the mother of the late Kevin Clarke, told the UN commission: “We want to see accountability and real change—not just in training, but the perception and response to Black people by the police and other services.” She also requested that mental health services are better funded, “so the first point of response is not just reliant on the police.”
With this report—which also praised Black Lives Matter, stating the orgnisation should “receive funding, public recognition and support”—the United Nations are hoping to try and dismantle the judicial and violent oppression that Black people have faced for aeons. Regardless of country, year or time, the cancerous behaviour exhibited by the police and law systems is set to be eradicated. Time will tell if the report and its findings will make an impact.
