Human Rights Organizations in The Americas Denounce Police Violence Against People of African Descent and Urge The Inter-American Commission On Human Rights to Take Action
For Immediate Release
December 9, 2020
Contact: Elianne Ramos, 212-739-7513, [email protected]
Human Rights Organizations in The Americas Denounce Police Violence Against
People of African Descent and Urge The Inter-American Commission On Human Rights to Take Action
With the loss of the lives of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, João Pedro, Anderson Arboleda, Julian Mauricio González, Emily and Rebeca Rodrigues dos Santos and many others, 2020 was defined by countless cases of police violence against Black people across the Americas. These attacks on people of African descent are nothing new; state perpetrated violence has been a part of the daily lives of people of African descent in the Americas since the days of slavery and colonization. Human rights organizations from countries throughout the Americas will denounce police violence against people of African descendants at a hearing before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on Wednesday, December 9, 2020.
The group, under the leadership of Black activists and organizations from throughout the Americas, will present testimony to the Commission on the use of racial profiling by the police; on the murders of unarmed Black people who pose no threat to anyone; and on the impunity enjoyed by law enforcement officers who commit extrajudicial killings. The organizations will also discuss the need for reparative policies and measures.
The collective calls for swift action on the part of this Inter-American system to protect the human rights of people of African descent and for strategic action to be carried out to eradicate police violence targeting people of African descent in the Americas.
The organizations that present the complaint to the Inter-American Commission are: AFROAMERICAS, AfroResistance, American Civil Liberties Union, Ashanti Perú - Red Peruana de Jóvenes Afrodescendientes, Asociación Azul Originario, Asociación de Mujeres Afrocolombianas (AMUAFROC), BLAM UK, CEDECA Ceará - Centro de Defesa da Criança e do Adolescente do Ceará, Center for Pan-African Affairs, Centro de Desarrollo Etnico - CEDET, Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales (CELS), Coalizão Negra por Direitos, Coletivo de Entidades Negras (CEN), Colectivo Justicia Racial, Comision Organizadora 8 de Noviembre "Día Nacional de las/os Afroargentinas/os y la Cultura Afro", Conectas Direitos Humanos, Consultoría para Derechos Humanos y Desplazamiento - CODHES, Dejusticia, Fundación de desarrollo Social, Etnoeduactiva y Cultural Afroecuatoriana AZÚCAR, Gabinete de Assessoria Jurídica às Organizações Populares (GAJOP), Global Human Rights Clinic University of Chicago Law School, US Human Rights Network, Ilex-Acción Jurídica, Instituto Afrodescendiente para el Estudio, la Investigación y el Desarrollo, Instituto de Defesa do Direito de Defesa (IDDD), Latino Justice PRLDEF, Mães de Maio, Mano Amiga de la Costa Chica A.C., Observatorio de Justicia para Afrodescendientes en Latinoamérica (OJALA), Red de Mujeres Afrolatinoamericanas, Afrocaribeñas y de la Diáspora. (RED MAAD) - Coordinadoras Regional Andina, Uneafro Brasil, Washington office on Latin America (WOLA), Women’s All Points Bulletin, WAPB.
The hearing will be held in virtual format on December 9, 2020, at 4 pm (EST). Register to watch it at: https://bit.ly/racismcidh
The hearing will also be broadcast live on the Facebook page of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.