US police killings of black people are indeed a crime against humanity

By Richard Sudan

(Richard Sudan is a journalist, writer, and TV reporter for Press TV.)

For years the United States has been readily quick to point the finger at other countries, and highlight alleged crimes against humanity.  This claim is almost always followed by subsequent plans to militarily invade a country, usually in the Middle East or Africa, in order to steal resources and to install the US version of so-called democracy.  

This pattern has continually played out, decade after decade, despite masses of people around the world becoming ever wise to the repeated pretext used by the United States and its allies, to justify boots on the ground in countries, in which their armed forces are simply not welcome. 

But now, a damning report produced by a group of international human rights experts has turned the tables on the narrative used by the United States.  And, as much of world opinion and perception of the country begins to shift, has placed the question of alleged crimes against humanity, squarely back within the country’s own borders.

A special report produced by a commission of experts from 11 countries, which runs to 188 pages, has suggested that the continual systematic killing of Black people in the US, by police, not only amounts to murder but also fits the definition of crimes against humanity-the very same favored assertion which the United States unflinchingly directs towards other countries, often without real substantive evidence.

But the new research, which is extensive, argues that the deadly abuse of Black people at the hands of law enforcement in the US amounts to a violation of human rights obligations while operating a “culture of impunity” around police suspected of murdering Black people.  The report also points to the US tolerating an “alarming national pattern of disproportionate use of deadly force”.  Powerful words.

But not only that, the lawyers behind the research are also demanding that the International Criminal Court (ICC) conduct an immediate investigation into the continued abuse of Black people in the US, describing the cycle of abuse as “police murder” and “torture”.

For those familiar with the phenomenon of deadly force in the US, leading to continual grief and anguish in the Black community, the report is welcome, concise, and importantly, is added vindication to what experts and activists have been arguing for many years.

In the same way that deeply entrenched and systemic White Supremacy has been revealed for the world to see, especially over the last few months, even acknowledged by the FBI, this new report gives the US government, which has always backed the police force, nowhere to hide as international focus, momentum and demands for justice continue to reverberate and be amplified around the world. 

But one thing which is likely to be certain is that the findings from the new report will be completely ignored by the US government, which many argue has taken next to no decisive action in dealing with the systemic and ongoing abuse of Black communities. 

While President Joe Biden opportunistically rode the coat-tails of the Black vote in the US, to narrowly beat former President Donald Trump to the White House last November, and while promising on election night to ‘have the backs’ of the Black community, millions view him as having seriously reneged on that promise.

Following the murder of George Floyd last year, by former police officer Derek Chauvin, millions around the world have been closely scrutinizing the US, and asking the question; how can a country which describes itself as a democracy, claim to be one, when it continues to brutalize and mistreat its own Black citizens whose descendants built the country?  A valid question indeed.

Malcolm X once suggested that the United States should be prosecuted for the genocidal situation facing Black Americans, at the United Nations.

Decades on, and in the wake of brutal US policing, the United States is now facing similar questions and similar criticism.

And perhaps these calls will continue to grow louder.  Because the deaths of Black people at the hands of the state are unrelenting. During and since the trial of Derek Chauvin, dozens more deaths have occurred by uniformed police officers, sparking widespread outrage, including the death of a teenage girl, Ma’Khia Bryant.

The irrefutable fact is, the US is in no moral position to speak about crimes against humanity until it gets its own house in order. 

The US simply must prioritize ending once and for all, the systematic killing of Black men women, and children at the hands of police officers, and bring about swift restorative justice to Black communities which deserve nothing less.