600 Rights Groups To UN: Probe Into US Police Brutality 

Relatives of victims and activist groups have called on the United Nations (UN) to launch an investigation into police violence and repression of protests in the United States.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH), and World Organization against Torture (OMCT) were among some 600 groups that signed a letter that called for a special session of the UN Human Rights Council.

The Geneva forum, which is due to meet from June 15, can hold a special session if requested by one-third of its 47 member states. The United States quit the forum two years ago alleging an anti-Israel bias.

The death of George Floyd was “only one of a recent string of unlawful killings of unarmed black people by police and armed white vigilantes,” the letter said.

 “We are deeply concerned about the escalation in violent police responses to largely peaceful protests in the United States, which included the use of rubber bullets, tear gas, pepper spray and in some cases live ammunition, in violation of international standards on the use of force and management of assemblies,” added the letter.

The groups voiced concern that “rather than using his position to serve as a force for calm and unity, President Trump has chosen to weaponize the tensions through his rhetoric”. They also denounced the deployment of more than 60,000 National Guard members in two dozen US states.

They said recent police killings of unarmed black people as well as police use of excessive force violate US obligations under major international human rights treaties, calling for the right to peaceful assembly and protest to be protected.

Source:Press TV