The U.N. committee’s 10 independent experts are responsible for reviewing the records of all 156 U.N. member countries that have ratified the treaty against torture and all “cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”
The report by the U.N. Committee Against Torture, its first such review of the U.S. record since 2006, expressed concerns about allegations of police brutality and excessive use of force by law enforcement officials, particularly the Chicago Police Department’s treatment of Blacks and Latinos. It also called for restricting the use of taser weapons by police 10 life-threatening situations. But it had no specific recommendation or reaction to a grand jury’s decision not to indict the white police officer in Ferguson, Mo. who fatally shot a Black unarmed teenager.
A St. Louis County grand jury decided last week not to indict Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson for the shooting death of Michael Brown on Aug 9, touching off weeks of nationwide protests and sometimes violent unrest in Ferguson.
Brown’s parents spoke to the U.N. before the commission’s findings and the grand jury decision.
In remarks after the grand jury decision, President Barack Obama acknowledged there were problems between police and African Americans and Latinos.
“The fact is, in too many parts of this country, a deep distrust exists between law enforcement and communities of color,” the president said. “Some of this is the result of the legacy of racial discrimination in this country. And this is tragic, because nobody needs good policing more than poor communities with higher crime rates.”
The president, of course is right, but now it’s time for the U.S. Justice Department and cities across the country to make long-lasting police reforms.
(Reprinted from the Philadelphia Tribune.)
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