Mr. President,
Human Rights Watch welcomes the renewal of the EMLER’s mandate last session because the fight against systemic racism within law enforcement has just begun. The experts’ country visits so far have empowered affected communities whose daily realities find little to no public and political attention.
We share the experts’ call to the Brazilian government, following their country visit, that only systemic changes will address systemic racism within police forces to end decades of police brutality against People of African descent. To do this, governments, including Brazil’s, need to dismantle racial inequalities, address historical racial disparities, create accessible and effective processes for accountability and redress. The experts’ thematic report demonstrated the challenges for victims when seeking justice. Many face intimidation and threats as well as systemic impunity for police abuses. We echo the experts’ continuous calls for disaggregated data on race and ethnicity in policing because only when you make it visible can you understand the problem.
We hope that a visit to France is on the horizon. In France, Black and Arab people or perceived as such, sometimes as young as 12 years old, face persistent and ongoing discriminatory police harassment that can have life-altering impacts and undermines the affected communities’ trust in the French police and institutions.
We urge governments to respond positively to the experts’ requests for visits. While the mandate may create discomfort for some governments, they should remember that this discomfort does not come close to the pain and realities that racialized communities face daily. Governments should see EMLER reports as independent assessments that offer an opportunity to address deep-rooted problems.
Thank you.
