There is no denying that there are certain flaws in the United States justice system. Anyone who has paid close attention to the Michael Brown case will almost certainly advocate this. It is not just U.S. citizens who recognize the demise of a system that allows a person to face no criminal consequences for shooting and killing an unarmed 18-year-old boy.
A United Nations committee carried out its first review of the U.S. justice system since 2006, citing a long list of transgressions against international standards of human rights, especially giving reference to the racially charged police brutality on the streets of the U.S. The report was determined following two days of hearings in Geneva in November, and it detailed the alarms and recommendations of the U.N. Committee against Torture. It was released last Friday when the majority of U.S. citizens was either still overcoming its food comas to hunt down the Black Friday deals or boycotting the big day of sales in remembrance of Michael Brown.
Michael Brown’s parents, Lesley McSpadden and Michael Brown Sr., were present in Geneva earlier this month. They put forward an argument that their son was a victim of police brutality and that his death and other forms of police brutality were a violation of the U.N. treaty. The U.S. delegation was also there to present its case to the panel of the committee. They contended that, since 2009, the Justice Department had opened 20 investigations into the recurring cases of police brutality against minorities, prosecuting more than 330 police officers for brutality.
Committee member Alessio Bruni stated, “We recommend that all instances of police brutality and excessive use of force by law enforcement officers are investigated promptly, effectively and impartially by an independent mechanism.”
Bruni noted in particular the violence by the Chicago Police toward African-Americans and Latino people, according to his statement.
The report firmly confirms that, according to the international body that establishes the standard for human decency, American police brutality is a form of cruel and unusual punishment and the equivalent of torture.
Police brutality is a topic that is particularly relevant to today’s talk in the U.S.; however, the committee determined several other areas of the justice system that are not quite just. In the report, there were several criticisms of counter-terrorism methods, immigration policies, sexual assault in the military and many more. The panel condemned the “excruciating pain and prolonged suffering” for prisoners during “botched executions,” in which 2014 was ridden with distressing incidents. There were also common accounts of rapes of inmates and extensive use of solitary confinement, as well as excessive use of force against people from minority groups.
The report was not a complete condemnation of the U.S. justice system, as the panel did praise the improvements that have been made, which included President Barack Obama’s commitment to ban torture. However, the favorable aspects of the investigation were overshadowed by the concerns that were expressed of which there were 54 throughout the document. The report along with the voices of the protestors that have been taking a standing this past week are a wake-up call for the police who seem to act with invincibility.
