The United Nations has urged France to combat systemic racism in its police force and punish the officers responsible for the killing of a teenager near Paris, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) said on Friday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th July, 2023) The United Nations has urged France to combat systemic racism in its police force and punish the officers responsible for the killing of a teenager near Paris, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) said on Friday.
"The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination ... (is) concerned that structural discrimination in law enforcement, in particular in the police, and the racial disparities against people of African and Arab descent, are perpetuated and reinforced notably in the enjoyment of the right to equal treatment before the tribunals, security of person, and other rights enshrined in the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination," the committee said in a statement.
France needs to adopt legislation prohibiting such aspects of racist behavior such as racial profiling and discriminatory identity checks, and to introduce reforms to promote ethnic diversity within the police, and to foster understanding between the police and minority groups, the statement read.
The committee also stressed the importance of conducting a "thorough and impartial" investigation into the teenager's death, prosecuting the alleged perpetrators and, if found guilty, punishing them in a manner commensurate with the gravity of the crime.
On June 30, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights called on the French government to "seriously address the deep problems of racism and discrimination in law enforcement" after a 17-year-old was killed by police in France. The French Foreign Ministry dismissed the call as unfounded.
On June 27, a police officer shot a 17-year-old teenager during a traffic stop after he allegedly refused to obey police orders. Over the past week, France has been gripped by protests against police violence that have escalated into riots, arson and looting. According to the latest figures from the French Interior Ministry, over 12,000 cars and some 500 municipal buildings have been burned and over 1,000 shops and bank offices have been looted in the unrest. A total of about 4,000 people, many of them juveniles, have been detained.
