US Faces UN Review Of Race Record

Geneva, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 11th Aug, 2022 ) :A UN watchdog is on Thursday due to begin questioning US officials about the country's record in battling racial discrimination, amid mounting calls for reparations after centuries of systemic racism.

The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) will host hearings in Geneva with top US officials, advocates and NGOs about whether Washington is upholding its international obligations to fight racial discrimination.

The hearings, set to start Thursday afternoon and to continue Friday morning, will address a raft of issues, including police killings of black people and unequal access to education, housing and to a healthy environment.

The committee of 18 independent experts evaluates how countries adhere to an international convention on eliminating all forms of racial discrimination, which the United States ratified in 1994.

Ahead of the first regular review of the US record since 2014, rights advocates insisted the US government had never adequately addressed violations against black people during slavery and subsequent periods marked by exploitation, segregation and violence.

That legacy, they argue, continues to be seen in economic, health, education, law enforcement, housing and other policies and practices.