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UN torture watchdog urges U.S. crackdown on police brutality

VCheng

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This report highlights two important aspects:

One that USA has failed to close the detention facility at Guantanamo.
Second that there should be an independent review of local police actions resulting in fatalities.


U.N. torture watchdog urges U.S. crackdown on police brutality| Reuters

BY STEPHANIE NEBEHAY

(Reuters) - The U.N. Committee against Torture urged the United States on Friday to fully investigate and prosecute police brutality and shootings of unarmed black youth and ensure that taser weapons are used sparingly.

The panel's first review of the U.S. record on preventing torture since 2006 followed racially-tinged unrest in cities across the country this week sparked by a Ferguson, Missouri grand jury's decision not to charge a white police officer for the fatal shooting of an unarmed black teenager.

The committee decried "excruciating pain and prolonged suffering" for prisoners during "botched executions" as well as frequent rapes of inmates, shackling of pregnant women in some prisons and extensive use of solitary confinement.

Its findings cited deep concern about "numerous reports" of police brutality and excessive use of force against people from minority groups, immigrants, homosexuals and racial profiling.

The panel referred to the "frequent and recurrent police shootings or fatal pursuits of unarmed black individuals."

"We recommend that all instances of police brutality and excessive use of force by law enforcement officers are investigated promptly, effectively and impartially by an independent mechanism," said panel member Alessio Bruni, noting "reported current police violence in Chicago especially against African-Americans and Latino young people".


The U.S. delegation reported that 20 investigations had been opened since 2009 into systematic police abuses and that more than 330 police officers had been prosecuted for brutality.

"We have certain concerns about whether investigations are thoroughly completed and whether punishment of law enforcement (officers) when they have crossed the line are effectively put in place," committee member Jens Modvig told reporters.

Activists welcomed the findings and called for reforms.

"This report – along with the voices of Americans protesting around the country this week – is a wake-up call for police who think they can act with impunity," said Jamil Dakwar of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), who attended the review.

The U.N. panel called for ending U.S. custody of migrants including children in "prison-like detention facilities".

It criticized what it called a continued U.S. failure to fully investigate allegations of torture and ill-treatment of terrorism suspects held in U.S. custody abroad, "evidenced by the limited number of criminal prosecutions and convictions".

Some 148 inmates are held at the U.S. Guantanamo base in Cuba amid reports, the committee's report said, of "a draconian system of secrecy surrounding high-value detainees that keeps their torture claims out of the public domain".

(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Tom Heneghan)
 
Does it mean Internal affairs department of each state are constantly failing to perform their duty ?. Reform should began from such department which was created for the sole purpose of overseeing police actions
 
Does it mean Internal affairs department of each state are constantly failing to perform their duty ?. Reform should began from such department which was created for the sole purpose of overseeing police actions

The US Federal Government is looking at the entire police department in Ferguson, top to bottom. I am expecting it to return some recommendations that would be applied widely to improve the overall situation. That is perhaps the best things to come out of this tragedy.
 
The US Federal Government is looking at the entire police department in Ferguson, top to bottom. I am expecting it to return some recommendations that would be applied widely to improve the overall situation. That is perhaps the best things to come out of this tragedy.

Which was the responsibility of Internal affairs or equivalent department to began with. Then it comes the responsibility of District attorney office I guess. Police brutality occurs due to weak or no oversight. It's the negligence of such departments due to which police brutality cases occurring frequently all over america and If it takes ferguson incident to wake up Federal government to look in to problems of system, It indicates strongly the rotten state of system
 
Which was the responsibility of Internal affairs or equivalent department to began with. Then it comes the responsibility of District attorney office I guess. Police brutality occurs due to weak or no oversight. It's the negligence of such departments due to which police brutality cases occurring frequently all over america and If it takes ferguson incident to wake up Federal government to look in to problems of system, It indicates strongly the rotten state of system

The US system of checks and balances works quite well, except that in certain cases, such as this one, it needs to be shored up and strengthened. The Federal inquiry will show what the issues are and how to fix them.
 
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