A new report by UN International experts advancing racial justice and equality in policing, published after an official visit to the country, shows that Black people in the US are three times more likely to be killed by police than if they were White, and 4.5 times more likely to be incarcerated.

Dr Tracie Keesee, an expert member of the task force, said the testimonies she heard on how victims do not get justice or redress were “heart-breaking” and “unacceptable”. 

“All actors involved, including police departments and police unions, must join forces to combat the prevailing impunity,” she said.

‘A legacy of slavery’

During their country visit, the experts heard testimonies from 133 affected individuals, visited five detention centres and held meetings with civil society groups as well as government and police authorities in the District of Columbia, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Chicago, Minneapolis and New York City.

They say that racism in the US, “a legacy of slavery, the slave trade, and 100 years of legalized apartheid that followed slavery’s abolition”, continues to exist in the form of racial profiling, police killings and many other human rights violations.

Chained in childbirth

The experts condemned the “appalling” overrepresentation of people of African descent in the criminal justice system.

They expressed concern over instances of children from the diaspora being sentenced to life imprisonment, pregnant women in prison being chained during childbirth, and persons held in solitary confinement for 10 years. 

Not just a few ‘bad apples’

The report notes that there are more than 1,000 cases of killings by police each year in the country but only one per cent result in officers being charged. 

The experts warned that if use of force regulations in the US are not reformed in accordance with international standards, killings by police will continue.

“We reject the ‘bad apple’ theory. There is strong evidence suggesting that the abusive behaviour of some individual police officers is part of a broader and menacing pattern,” said Professor Juan Méndez, an expert member of the Mechanism, as the Human Rights Council-appointed panel is formally known. 

Mr. Mendez stressed that the police and justice systems reflect the attitudes prevalent in US society and institutions and called for “comprehensive reform”.

Alternative approach

The report’s authors insist that armed police officers “should not be the default first responders to every social issue in the US”, including for mental health crises or homelessness, and call for “alternative responses to policing”.

The experts highlighted the burden of a “work overload” on police officers, as well as systemic racism within police departments, which need to be addressed. 

Good cop recommendations

The report made 30 recommendations to the US and all its jurisdictions, including the more than 18,000 police agencies in the country. It also highlighted local and federal good practices.

“We encourage the good practices to be reproduced in other parts of the country. We look forward to continuing to cooperate with the US to implement these recommendations,” Prof. Méndez said.

The Mechanism comprises three experts appointed by the Council: Justice Yvonne Mokgoro (Chair), Dr Keesee and Prof. Méndez. The experts are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work.

“Every day the lives of Haitian people become even harder, but it is vital that we do not give up. Their situation is not hopeless. With international support and resolve, the Haitian people can tackle this grave insecurity, and find a way out of this chaos,” Mr. Türk said.

The High Commissioner’s latest report on the human rights situation in Haiti stresses that the deployment of a multinational security support mission is essential to assist the HNP in tackling organized crime, armed gangs and international trafficking in arms, drugs and people.

The report details the findings of the High Commissioner’s Designated Expert on the human rights situation in Haiti, William O’Neill, who visited the country in June 2023.

Haitian Prisoners

According to the report, Haiti’s prisons are inhumane and the situation of detainees epitomizes the continued erosion of the rule of law in the Caribbean country. 

At the end of June 2023, Haitian prisons held 11,810 inmates, more than three times their maximum capacity. Nearly 85 per cent of those in detention were awaiting trial.

During his visit to the National Penitentiary in the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince and the Central Prison in the northern city of Cap-Haïtien, Mr. O’Neill observed detainees crammed into small cells, in stifling heat, with limited access to water and toilets. 

“They must endure a suffocating smell and, in the capital, mounds of rubbish, including human excrement, add to the squalor. The detainees must take turns sleeping because there is not enough room for them to lie down at the same time,” the report reads.

“Lives are at stake,” Mr.Türk said. “Time is of the essence – we need to comprehend the sense of urgency this crisis demands.”

Escalating violence

The latest report from the UN Secretary-General on Haiti says that “Haiti faces a multidimensional crisis, with gang violence at its centre, which undermines State institutions.” 

Armed gangs control or exercise influence over about 80 per cent of the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area, with gang violence affecting all neighbourhoods. 

According to the report, “violence is also spreading to departments beyond the capital. Over the past few months, a significant increase in serious crimes, such as homicide, kidnapping and rape, has been reported. Indiscriminate, large-scale attacks against entire neighbourhoods and their residents have displaced almost 130,000 people.” 

The spread of gang violence has provoked popular protests against the Government and a rise in vigilante groups and related violence, including killings and lynchings, which has further frayed social cohesion. 

In April 2023, an anti-gang vigilante movement, commonly known as “Bwa Kale”, emerged in Port-au-Prince. 

The Secretary General stressed that “the prevalence of armed violence has a significant impact on socioeconomic activities. Freedom of movement is impaired as gangs extort, hijack or rob commercial and public vehicles transiting through arterial roads.” 

“Schools have been forced to close as a result of escalating violence, with children being exposed to the risk of recruitment by gangs. 

Gangs have managed to isolate entire neighbourhoods, predominantly for economic gain. They intimidate the local population through violent means, including the targeting of critical infrastructure.” 

Humanitarian crisis

Insecurity has exacerbated the humanitarian crisis. The number of people in need of humanitarian aid has nearly doubled over the past three years. Attacks against schools by gang members have increased ninefold in the past year, and many health workers have left the country.

Once the security situation is stabilized, there needs to be investment in the development of socio-economic opportunities to enable the people of Haiti to access better living conditions and ensure lasting stability and prosperity of the country, according to the Un chief.

Strengthening State institutions 

In Haiti, impunity and decades of poor governance and corruption have contributed to the current crisis. 

“The cycle of violence never ends because rarely is anyone held to account,” said the Secretary-General. “It [the State] must hold accountable both those responsible for crimes and its own officials in the police, courts and prison system to provide security for and deliver justice to the population.”

This week, members of the UN Security Council are expected to continue negotiating a draft resolution authorizing the deployment of a non-UN multinational security support mission to Haiti.

Mr. Grandi stressed that UN refugee agency (UNHCR) convoys with more relief supplies are on the way. 

“We are ready to mobilize additional resources to support the humanitarian efforts of the Government and people of Armenia,” he said.

UNHCR said earlier this week that most of those streaming across are vulnerable, including mainly older people, women and children, and that they require urgent emergency assistance.

UNHCR and UN partners, along with the office of the UN Resident Coordinator in Armenia, have been supporting the Government’s response to the influx of people, as needs keep rising.

UN chief António Guterres has also expressed his concern about the emergency. His spokesperson told reporters that it was essential that the rights of the displaced populations were protected and that they should receive the humanitarian support they need.

Indigenous Peoples’ rights must be central to green investments

“Green” finance investments on Indigenous Peoples’ land must rely on their participation and use a human rights-based approach.

That’s the message from the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples, Francisco Cali-Tzay, who warned on Thursday that the shift to green finance should not create more problems for native communities already impacted negatively by fossil-fuel related projects.

Briefing the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, he said their scientific knowledge “is critical to solving the biodiversity loss and climate change crises.”

“Ensuring their participation and consent for projects affecting their lands is the obligation of States under international law. Business corporations and financial actors have similar responsibilities and obligations”. 

The independent rights expert reminded the Council that “the most biodiverse and best-preserved lands, forests and shores on this planet are those…stewarded by Indigenous Peoples”.

He stressed that green investments could be a chance for Indigenous Peoples to obtain funding to preserve their lands, knowledge and distinct ways of life, and to “create economic opportunities that may help them to maintain and strengthen their indigenous identity”.

The Special Rapporteur also said that he was concerned by increasing reports that conservation and climate-oriented projects and programmes rarely include protections for the fundamental rights of Indigenous Peoples. 

“Financial decision-makers have a crucial role in preventing this, by demanding social and environmental safeguards and effective due diligence protocols to ensure Indigenous Peoples’ participation before approving investments for green projects or programmes,” he insisted.

Collective efforts needed to stop wasting food while millions go hungry

A staggering one billion tonnes of food are wasted every year, while up to 783 million people around the world are facing hunger.

Ahead of the International Day of Awareness on Food Loss and Waste Reduction on Friday, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) are sounding the alarm over losses amounting to 13 per cent of the world’s food in the supply chain before products even hit the shelves, and a further 17 per cent lost in households and retail.

The agencies said that stopping food loss and waste boosts food security, saves resources and helps reduce our carbon footprint. 

They called for urgent action from the public and private sector as well as consumers to save and preserve food and set out concrete steps for all stakeholders in a joint guide, insisting that “our collective efforts can make a difference”.

“Without universal and meaningful connectivity for all, the right to information is an empty promise for billions of people around the world,” Irene Khan said in her message to mark the International Day for Universal Access to Information, observed annually on 28 September. 

The focus this year is on the importance of the online space. 

She said the Internet is not equally available or accessible, which is “deepening existing inequalities and creating new inequities along lines of gender, geography, ethnicity, income and digital literacy, increasing the vulnerabilities of those most marginalised in society.” 

The ‘oxygen’ fuelling democracy 

Ms. Khan described the right to information as “the oxygen” without which neither democracy nor development can flourish. 

She said access to information, whether online or off, enables people to be better 

informed and better equipped to participate in decision-making, thus improving the quality and sustainability of development outcomes 

Additionally, by empowering citizens, civil society and the media to hold governments and companies to account, it makes democracy more meaningful. 

Laws and restrictions 

Her latest report, published in April, revealed that many States have adopted laws on access to information, with some even recognizing access to the Internet as a legal right. 

However, the “bad news” is that these laws often are not implemented effectively, she said.  Various tactics are used to restrict or deny access to information, both online and offline, to investigative journalists, human rights defenders and other civil society representatives. 

Ms. Khan reported that over the past five years, Governments in more than 74 countries have shut down or slowed down the Internet or blocked mobile communications for intermittent or prolonged periods. 

These measures affected access to information and disrupted health, education and other essential services.

Vital to sustainable development 

“Information, freedom of expression and active participation, online and offline, of youth, civil society and independent media are vital, whether to tackle global challenges, such as climate change and pandemics or to break age-old patterns of discrimination, exclusion and violence,” she said. 

She added that both universal and affordable access to the Internet and access to information are “clear targets” of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the blueprint to a more just and equitable world.  

Last week, world leaders gathered in New York for the High-Level Week of the UN General Assembly attended the SDG Summit aimed at shoring up commitment to achieve the goals by their 2030 deadline. 

She urged States to translate commitments made at the Summit into concrete action. 

Special Rapporteurs like Ms. Khan are appointed by the UN Human Rights Council to monitor specific thematic issues or country situations. 

They are not UN staff and are not paid for their work.