Martin Luther King III calls for a United Nations Resolution on systemic racism and police violence in the US

Jun 17, 2020

---

The following written statement was delivered by Martin Luther King III, son of Martin Luther King Jr. and former US Human Rights Network Board Member, to foreign embassies requesting support for a Human Rights Council Resolution mandating an independent international commission of inquiry into systemic racism and police violence in the US.

 

I am writing to respectfully request that your country support the urgent call within the United Nations Human Rights Council for international accountability regarding the surge of police killings in the United States and other countries. Hopefully, your government will support the resolution that is being debated in Geneva on June 17, 2020.

The current protests for police reform that are taking place across the United States, and throughout the international community, reflect the anger and frustration found in various communities that are saying "enough is enough." The manifestations of systemic discriminatory patterns and practices of racist policing in cities around the United States, including in my hometown of Atlanta, Georgia, where just two days ago, another African American man was shot twice, in the back, while running away from the police who knew he was unarmed and posed no serious threat to them, is why the protest are taking place.

The excessive use of deadly force by the police against unarmed African Americans, and the continued existence of racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia within the U.S. criminal justice system has been well documented by numerous human rights organizations and commented upon by several intergovernmental organizations, including the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the African Union. The public murder of Mr. George Floyd by four Minneapolis policemen is one of the latest examples in a long history of such abuses.

The continued unconstrained, pervasive, and indiscriminate police killings constitute a grave threat to peace and security within my country and throughout the international community. Therefore, I appeal for your support on behalf of those whose voices are not being heard. Thank you in advance for your time and consideration. As always, I remain,

 

Your for a more just world,

 

Martin Luther King III