UN racial justice experts: Broad impunity persists for law enforcement officials who use excessive force against Africans and people of African descent

GENEVA  – Africans and people of African descent who have experienced excessive use of force and other human rights violations by law enforcement officials encounter continuing broad impunity, a Human Rights Council-mandated panel of experts has found in a new report.

The experts said that, in addition, victims’ rights to justice, truth, reparations and guarantees of non-repetition were “rarely fulfilled” and recommended several steps States must take to provide justice, accountability and redress.

“Manifestations of systemic racism against Africans and people of African descent by law enforcement and in criminal justice systems are still predominant in many parts of the world, and broad impunity persists,” said Akua Kuenyehia, chair of the International Independent Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in Law Enforcement.

Tracie Keesee, an expert member of the Mechanism, added: “People and communities affected by police violence and misconduct repeatedly report to us about the difficulties they face when demanding justice, accountability and redress for violations by law enforcement officials, that is why we are presenting these specific action-oriented recommendations.”

In its report to the 57th session of the Human Rights Council, the Expert Mechanism examined the barriers faced by Africans and people of African descent when demanding justice, accountability and redress. It outlined the minimum steps necessary to combating impunity, complemented by specific action-oriented recommendations, including:

• establishing effective reporting, review and investigation procedures
• establishing independent civilian oversight bodies to law enforcement
• creating independent mechanisms to support victims and communities

“This is long overdue,” said Víctor Rodríguez Rescia, an expert member of the Mechanism. “It is time for States to invest in building strong institutions to effectively provide justice, accountability and redress for victims. States have the duty to fulfil a victim’s right to reparation promptly, adequately and their effectively, and comprehensive and holistic support is required in this regard.”

The Expert Mechanism will present its report to the Human Rights Council on 2 October 2024 in, Room XX, Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, together with reports of country visits to Brazil and Italy.

• In Brazil, the Mechanism found that racism against people of African descent was systemic and widespread. Because of a systemic practice of racial profiling by law enforcement, Afro-Brazilians are three times more likely to be killed by police.
• In Italy, the Mechanism found that biases towards Africans and people of African descent contributed to racial profiling by law enforcement and to their disproportionate representation within the Italian criminal justice system.

The need to enhance accountability for the actions of law enforcement officials was stressed in both country reports, which both of which contain sets of recommendations to State authorities.

ENDS

Background: The International Independent Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in the Context of Law Enforcement was established in July 2021 by the Human Rights Council to make recommendations, inter alia, on the concrete steps needed to ensure access to justice, accountability and redress for excessive use of force and other human rights violations by law enforcement officials against Africans and people of African descent. The Mechanism’s experts are: Akua Kuenyehia (Chair, Ghana), Tracie Keesee (United States of America) and Víctor Rodríguez Rescia (Costa Rica)

For more information, please contact the Expert Mechanism at: ohchr-emler@un.org.

For media requests, please contact: Pascal Sim, Human Rights Council Media Officer, at simp@un.org or Todd Pitman, Media Adviser - Investigative Mechanisms, at todd.pitman@un.org.