An international group of human rights experts has concluded in a damning report that the recent killings of Black people at the hands of American police law enforcement officers amount to crime against humanity and are punishable under international law.
In their 188-page report, the rights experts warn that a number of the police killings and injuries warrant investigation by the International Criminal Court.
“The Commissioners find an alarming, national pattern of disproportionate use of deadly force not only by firearms but also by Tasers against people of African descent,” they suugest.
“Many Black people are killed in broad daylight to intimidate communities and because officers don’t fear accountability.”
According to the report, the US police is constantly violating the African Americans’ right to “life, security, freedom from torture, freedom from discrimination, mental health, access to remedies for violations, fair trial and presumption of innocence, and to be treated with humanity and respect.”
The excessive use of force by the police against blacks often leads to crimes such as “murder, severe deprivation of physical liberty, torture, persecution of people of African descent, and other inhumane acts.”
All of the 43 police killing cases examined in the report were primarily caused by an officer’s decision to use excessive force.
The experts asked the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to initiate an investigation into their findings, which they said forms a prima facie case for crimes against humanity.
The Commission of inquiry was composed of 12 distinguished judges, lawyers, professors, advocates and UN special rapporteurs from Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the Caribbean.
“I was taken aback that this country, which claims to be a global champion of human rights, itself fails to comply with international law,” Hina Jilani, a prominent rights activist and one of the commissioners, told The Guardian.
