In an unprecedented move, the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Michael Brown, and Philando Castile, together with more than 600 civil rights groups led by the American Civil Liberties Union and U.S. Human Rights Network, are demanding the United Nations Human Rights Council swiftly convene a special session to investigate the escalating situation of police violence and repression of protests in the United States. Additional signatories include Black Lives Matter and the NAACP.
“Mamie Till Mobley made a decision to open the casket of her son Emmett Till so the world could see the atrocities Black people faced in America. I want people across the world and the leaders in the United Nations to see the video of my brother George Floyd, to listen to his cry for help, and I want them to answer his cry,” said Philonise Floyd, brother of George Floyd. “I appeal to the United Nations to help him. Help me. Help us. Help Black men and women in America.”
The groups warn of an “unfolding grave human rights crisis” in the US and write that the recent police killings of unarmed Black people as well as police use of excessive force and repression of protests violate US obligations under international law.
They call on the U.N. to mandate an independent inquiry into the killings and violent law enforcement responses to protests, including the attacks against protesters and journalists. The letter also calls for a U.N. investigation into the firing of tear gas by President Trump in violation of international standards on the use of force.
“It is time the United States faced the same scrutiny and judgment it is quick to pass on to other countries,” said Jamil Dakwar, director of the ACLU’s Human Rights Program. “This accountability appeal to the United Nations follows the legacy of great Black leaders such as W.E.B. Du Bois, Martin Luther King Jr., and Malcolm X, who believed in internationalizing the struggle for human rights and racial justice in the United States. As communities in the US call on their leaders to divest from policing and end structural racism, the U.N. must support these domestic demands by holding the US accountable for its human rights violations.”
Within the US, the ACLU is calling on governments to divest from police and re-invest in the Black and Brown communities the police unjustly target. At the same time, the ACLU is working in cities and states across the country to respond to escalating law enforcement attacks against journalists and protesters, including by suing President Trump for firing tear gas and other weapons at protesters on June 1.
The U.N.’s Human Rights Council is the world’s highest multilateral human rights body. It is mandated to strengthen the global promotion and protection of human rights, and to address human rights violations. The council may hold special sessions to address human rights violations and emergencies if at least one-third of its member states demand.
