US urged to act on systemic racism

Forum told Floyd killing fits in with long history of abusing minorities

Human rights experts on Tuesday called on the United States to take measures to eradicate the systemic racism put in the global spotlight by the "Black Lives Matter" protests that swept through cities across the country.

They were speaking at a virtual conference, titled Racism and Social Discrimination in the USA, which was jointly sponsored by non-governmental organizations, including the Civil Society Organizations Congress of the Peoples of Colombia, the International Solidarity Committee of Venezuela, the European Collective of Ecuadorian Diversity, the Chinese Society for Human Rights Studies, and the Latin American Foundation for Human Rights and Social Development.

The discussion took place during the 44th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council.

"The death of George Floyd was not a unique occurrence. Floyd was only one among thousands of Afro-Americans who have been victims of the excessive use of force by the police," said Alfred de Zayas, a US lawyer who served as the first UN Independent Expert on the Promotion of a Democratic and Equitable International Order from 2012 to 2018.

Floyd was killed on May 25 after a white police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, knelt on his neck for eight minutes during an arrest. His death sparked nationwide protests over police violence against African Americans.

De Zayas, through a representative, said that although those responsible for Floyd's death have been called to account, their prosecution will not solve the endemic problems of social injustice, racism, and the culture of violence in the US.

Rather, the US government will only take Band-Aid measures instead of seeking a fundamental solution. He also listed what he called prolonged structural issues, such as social injustice, income inequality and lack of opportunities for African Americans to gain quality education, training and employment.

The conference, which was webcast live, drew more than 4,000 participants on several social media platforms.

Deep-rooted discrimination

Mark Burton, a US attorney, said that racial discrimination is deep-rooted in the US, citing the genocide against Native Americans, the notorious Chinese Exclusion Act and the internment camps for Japanese Americans during World War II.

Burton said that the tragedy of Floyd's killing only exposed the tip of the iceberg on racism in the US, saying that the US justice system is unable to adopt effective measures to protect African Americans and other minorities.

He said a resolution that had been passed recently passed by the UN Human Rights Council on racism and police brutality in the US was the first step that the international community can take in urging the US to address these issues.

While the US has withdrawn from the UN Human Rights Council and some other multilateral institutions, Burton said he hoped that the global community could still establish a mechanism to monitor the implementation of the resolution by the US.

Lucrecia Hernandez, president of Venezuelan NGO Sures, pointed to the deep-rooted white supremacy in the US, the racism in its judicial and law enforcement systems as well as police brutality. She said all these failings meant the US had seriously violated international human rights laws and the Durban Declaration and Program of Action, adopted at the 2001 World Conference against Racism in Durban, South Africa.

Hernandez called on the US to implement the UN Human Rights Council resolution and to hold perpetrators accountable.

Zhang Wanhong, executive director of the Institute for Human Rights Studies at China's Wuhan University, said that from the Chinese Exclusion Act to the novel coronavirus pandemic, Asian Americans have been harassed, excluded and structurally discriminated against.

He said the stigmatization and discrimination against Asian Americans during the pandemic have undermined the global solidarity, weakened international efforts in fighting COVID-19 and resulted in an unnecessary loss of lives.

Zhang said Asian Americans should join hands with African Americans and other minorities to defend the rights and interests of minorities in the US.

Zhou Li, head of the Scientific Research Department of China's Southwest University of Political Science and Law, said the US should honor its obligations to international human rights laws and take immediate measures to address its problems.

"Safeguarding human rights means respecting diversity. The US should not impose its own values on other countries," Zhou said.