A protester wearing a mask holds a large black power raised fist in the middle of the crowd that gathered at Columbus Circle in New York City on June 14, 2020. (Photo: Ira L. Black/Corbis via Getty Images)
Jun 15, 2020
The United Nations Human Rights Council will hold an emergency hearing Wednesday at the request of 54 African nations on racism and police violence around the world and particularly in the U.S. as ongoing protests over the killing of black Americans by the police turned out hundreds of thousands around the country over the weekend.
"The protests the world is witnessing are a rejection of the fundamental racial inequality and discrimination that characterize life in the United States for black people," Dieudonne W. Desire Sougouri, Burkina Faso's representative to the U.N. in Geneva, said Friday in a statement on behalf of the 54 countries.
The hearing will focus on "racially inspired human rights violations, police brutality against people of African descent, and the violence against the peaceful protests that call for these injustices to stop."
Protests over the killing of Floyd last month by four Minneapolis poloice officers quickly spread across the U.S. and the world. In their letter to the council calling for hearings, the African nations note that Floyd's killing was part of a longstanding pattern in the U.S.
As Al Jazeera reported Saturday, the letter follows a call from advocates in the U.S. that the world body hold hearings:
The call came after Floyd's family, along with the families of other victims of police violence and more than 600 NGOs this week called on the council to urgently address systemic racism and police impunity in the US.
Protests over the killing of Floyd and the ongoing problem of police racism and violence in the U.S. continued across the country over the weekend as Americans in multiple cities showed up in force for black lives. In Atlanta, the killing of Rayshard Brooks Friday night led to an explosion of frustration as demonstrators filled the streets Saturday and Sunday demanding justice, shutting down the interstate.
\u201cInterstate 85 and Interstate 75 in Atlanta right now after the death of Rayshard Brooks, who was shot by the police outside a nearby Wendy's.\u201d— Arash Markazi (@Arash Markazi) 1592103043
At least 60,000 people marched silently through Seattle Friday.
\u201cAn absolutely bananas timelapse of the Seattle Silent March via @kylealden\u201d— Jay Willis (@Jay Willis) 1592006848
Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles was packed.
\u201cThousands of people gathered in Hollywood, Los Angeles Sunday for an All Black Lives Matter march, organized by black members of the LGBTQ+ community. #BlackLivesMatter #march https://t.co/MMS0GvyG0b\u201d— ABC7 News (@ABC7 News) 1592170201
Tens of thousands of New Yorkers filled the plaza outside of the Brooklyn Museum to rally for black trans lives.
\u201cA massive turn out for the Black Trans Lives Matter protest in front of the Brooklyn Museum: \n\u201d— philip lewis (@philip lewis) 1592159010
Wednesday's hearing will focus on the global epidemic of racism that affects black and brown citizens of multiple countries, but will focus on the U.S. specifically. The U.S. is not currently a member of the Human Rights Council, the Trump administration having withdrawn from the organization in 2018 over criticism of Israeli abuses in the occupied territories.
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The United Nations Human Rights Council will hold an emergency hearing Wednesday at the request of 54 African nations on racism and police violence around the world and particularly in the U.S. as ongoing protests over the killing of black Americans by the police turned out hundreds of thousands around the country over the weekend.
"The protests the world is witnessing are a rejection of the fundamental racial inequality and discrimination that characterize life in the United States for black people," Dieudonne W. Desire Sougouri, Burkina Faso's representative to the U.N. in Geneva, said Friday in a statement on behalf of the 54 countries.
The hearing will focus on "racially inspired human rights violations, police brutality against people of African descent, and the violence against the peaceful protests that call for these injustices to stop."
Protests over the killing of Floyd last month by four Minneapolis poloice officers quickly spread across the U.S. and the world. In their letter to the council calling for hearings, the African nations note that Floyd's killing was part of a longstanding pattern in the U.S.
As Al Jazeera reported Saturday, the letter follows a call from advocates in the U.S. that the world body hold hearings:
The call came after Floyd's family, along with the families of other victims of police violence and more than 600 NGOs this week called on the council to urgently address systemic racism and police impunity in the US.
Protests over the killing of Floyd and the ongoing problem of police racism and violence in the U.S. continued across the country over the weekend as Americans in multiple cities showed up in force for black lives. In Atlanta, the killing of Rayshard Brooks Friday night led to an explosion of frustration as demonstrators filled the streets Saturday and Sunday demanding justice, shutting down the interstate.
\u201cInterstate 85 and Interstate 75 in Atlanta right now after the death of Rayshard Brooks, who was shot by the police outside a nearby Wendy's.\u201d— Arash Markazi (@Arash Markazi) 1592103043
At least 60,000 people marched silently through Seattle Friday.
\u201cAn absolutely bananas timelapse of the Seattle Silent March via @kylealden\u201d— Jay Willis (@Jay Willis) 1592006848
Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles was packed.
\u201cThousands of people gathered in Hollywood, Los Angeles Sunday for an All Black Lives Matter march, organized by black members of the LGBTQ+ community. #BlackLivesMatter #march https://t.co/MMS0GvyG0b\u201d— ABC7 News (@ABC7 News) 1592170201
Tens of thousands of New Yorkers filled the plaza outside of the Brooklyn Museum to rally for black trans lives.
\u201cA massive turn out for the Black Trans Lives Matter protest in front of the Brooklyn Museum: \n\u201d— philip lewis (@philip lewis) 1592159010
Wednesday's hearing will focus on the global epidemic of racism that affects black and brown citizens of multiple countries, but will focus on the U.S. specifically. The U.S. is not currently a member of the Human Rights Council, the Trump administration having withdrawn from the organization in 2018 over criticism of Israeli abuses in the occupied territories.
The United Nations Human Rights Council will hold an emergency hearing Wednesday at the request of 54 African nations on racism and police violence around the world and particularly in the U.S. as ongoing protests over the killing of black Americans by the police turned out hundreds of thousands around the country over the weekend.
"The protests the world is witnessing are a rejection of the fundamental racial inequality and discrimination that characterize life in the United States for black people," Dieudonne W. Desire Sougouri, Burkina Faso's representative to the U.N. in Geneva, said Friday in a statement on behalf of the 54 countries.
The hearing will focus on "racially inspired human rights violations, police brutality against people of African descent, and the violence against the peaceful protests that call for these injustices to stop."
Protests over the killing of Floyd last month by four Minneapolis poloice officers quickly spread across the U.S. and the world. In their letter to the council calling for hearings, the African nations note that Floyd's killing was part of a longstanding pattern in the U.S.
As Al Jazeera reported Saturday, the letter follows a call from advocates in the U.S. that the world body hold hearings:
The call came after Floyd's family, along with the families of other victims of police violence and more than 600 NGOs this week called on the council to urgently address systemic racism and police impunity in the US.
Protests over the killing of Floyd and the ongoing problem of police racism and violence in the U.S. continued across the country over the weekend as Americans in multiple cities showed up in force for black lives. In Atlanta, the killing of Rayshard Brooks Friday night led to an explosion of frustration as demonstrators filled the streets Saturday and Sunday demanding justice, shutting down the interstate.
\u201cInterstate 85 and Interstate 75 in Atlanta right now after the death of Rayshard Brooks, who was shot by the police outside a nearby Wendy's.\u201d— Arash Markazi (@Arash Markazi) 1592103043
At least 60,000 people marched silently through Seattle Friday.
\u201cAn absolutely bananas timelapse of the Seattle Silent March via @kylealden\u201d— Jay Willis (@Jay Willis) 1592006848
Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles was packed.
\u201cThousands of people gathered in Hollywood, Los Angeles Sunday for an All Black Lives Matter march, organized by black members of the LGBTQ+ community. #BlackLivesMatter #march https://t.co/MMS0GvyG0b\u201d— ABC7 News (@ABC7 News) 1592170201
Tens of thousands of New Yorkers filled the plaza outside of the Brooklyn Museum to rally for black trans lives.
\u201cA massive turn out for the Black Trans Lives Matter protest in front of the Brooklyn Museum: \n\u201d— philip lewis (@philip lewis) 1592159010
Wednesday's hearing will focus on the global epidemic of racism that affects black and brown citizens of multiple countries, but will focus on the U.S. specifically. The U.S. is not currently a member of the Human Rights Council, the Trump administration having withdrawn from the organization in 2018 over criticism of Israeli abuses in the occupied territories.
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