United Nations group compares U.S. police killings to lynching

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A United Nations group leveled heavy criticism against the United States concerning the police killings of black people, stating that the recent killings were reminiscent of lynchings and that the U.S. government was not doing enough to protect its citizens.

“Contemporary police killings and the trauma that they create are reminiscent of the past racial terror of lynching,” said the report by the U.N. Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent, which will be debated at the U.N. Human Rights Council on Monday.

The report was based on a visit to the United States by a five-person group in January to observe conditions here.

The group went on to say that it was “extremely concerned” over the state of affairs in the United States, especially because of the racial legacy in the country.

“In particular, the legacy of colonial history, enslavement, racial subordination and segregation, racial terrorism and racial inequality in the United States remains a serious challenge, as there has been no real commitment to reparations and to truth and reconciliation for people of African descent,” the group said. “Impunity for State violence has resulted in the current human rights crisis and must be addressed as a matter of urgency.”

The group went on to recommend that the United States develop a system to track police killings and also recommended the end of the practice of racial profiling, which they described as “a rampant practice and seriously damages the trust between African Americans and law enforcement officials.”