This archive report was first published on 13 June 2020.
Geneva, Switzerland, June 13, 2020 - The death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man who died in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25, has sparked widespread protests across the United States and around the world.
African countries have called for an urgent debate on racism and police brutality at the UN Human Rights Council, following the death of George Floyd.
On Friday, June 12, Burkina Faso's ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Ambassador Dieudonne Desire Sougouri, wrote a letter on behalf of 54 African countries to the UN's top rights body, requesting an urgent debate on 'racially inspired human rights violations, police brutality against people of African descent and the violence against the peaceful protests that call for these injustices to stop.'
The letter, addressed to rights council president Elisabeth Tichy-Fisslberger of Austria, requested that this debate be held next week, when the council's 43rd session resumes, after it was interrupted in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The call came after Floyd's family, along with the families of other victims of police violence and over 600 NGOs, called on the council to urgently address systemic racism and police impunity in the US.
For the council to consider such a request, it needs to have the backing of at least one country. With the request now coming from a large group of states, 'that increases the chances' it will take place, a council spokesman told AFP.
