UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: NGO assessment of the implementation of follow-up recommendations – with the support of Centre for Civil and Political Rights (CCPR Centre) and the US Human Rights Network (USHRN)

United States of America
NGO assessment of the follow-up action of the U.S. Government for the ICCPR Recommendations Para 11 / CCPR/C/USA/CO/4
March 26, 2014(adoption of the Concluding Observations)
March 26, 2015(Deadline for the State follow-up report)
Current Status: April 01, 2015

Reporting Organization

Chicago Alliance Against Racist And Political Repression-CAARPR was founded in 1973 as a local branch of the National Alliance, which grew out of the mass movement to Free Angela Davis and All Political Prisoners. From its inception the CAARPR has campaigned against police crimes committed primarily against the poor and people of color. The Alliance initiated a campaign to Stop Police Crimes and victims of those crimes and their families are actively involved. The Alliance is organizing for passage of legislation to establish an elected Civilian Police Accountability Council that holds police officers accountable for crimes such as assault, murder, torture, and racial profiling.

Follow-up Recommendation Report will Assess: Paragraph 11- TheExcessive Use of Force by Law Enforcement Officials

As of 01May2015

The Committee is concerned about the still high number of fatal shootings by certain police forces, including, for instance, in Chicago, and reports of excessive use of force by certain law enforcement officers, including the deadly use of tasers, which has a disparate impact on African Americans, and use of lethal force by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at the United States-Mexico border (arts. 2, 6, 7 and 26).

NGO Assessment of the Action of the State party (government) on the Recommendations made by the Committee
Recommendation by the Committee / The State Party should:
(a) Step up its efforts to prevent the excessive use of force by law enforcement officers by ensuring compliance with the 1990 Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials;
(b) Ensure that the new CBP directive on the use of deadly force is applied and enforced in practice; and
(c) Improve reporting of violations involving the excessive use of force and ensure that reported cases of excessive use of force are effectively investigated; that alleged perpetrators are prosecuted and, if convicted, punished with appropriate sanctions; that investigations are re-opened when new evidence becomes available; and that victims or their families are provided with adequate compensation.
Actions taken by the State party / Our country has responded by using examples of cities other than the city of Chicago which was specifically mentioned in the ICCPR Concluding Observations, an oversight that leads this NGO to believe that the power of the Chicago Police Department is invasively political and comprehensive in the United States.
Current situation / Update of the Issue / Since March of 2014 there has been an increase in the amount of murders committed by US law enforcement officers, per NBC News and USA Today, U.S. Police Officer Shooting Deaths are up 56% since 2014 and they are the highest in two decades. The Free Thought Project.com reports 91 people were killed by police in January of 2015 while no officers were killed by any suspects. Additionally it reported that 1106 lives were taken in 2014 by US police calling into question the FBI’s previous estimate of 400 per year, and the Arrest Related Deaths report’s average of 700 per year. The Daily KOS reports that American police killed more people in March 2015, 111 lives taken, than the entire United Kingdomhas killed since 1900. By last toll, Chicago police have killed 122 human beings since 2007; a massive number of lives. Afrikan people averaged 73% of shooting victims with a high of 88% in 2012 and 80% in 2011; a year tallying 23 deaths, the second highest since 2008's 24 deaths where Afrikans were 65% of those shot by CPD.
While Ferguson reels in the wake of Michael Brown lying in the street, shot in the head, for hours, Chicago pleads for 15 year old Dakota Bright who stayed in the streets shot in the head for 5 hours. While Baltimore’s rebels burn and break windows on CVS stores, Chicago still waits for the Chicago Police Department to properly investigate the strangling murder of Anthony Kyser by CVS manager Pedro Villanova. While New York settles as the DOJ investigates Eric Garner’s murder on the street, Chicago cries as the killer of Rekia Boyd, accused of 1st degree murder by a Judge, walks free from its Courtroom on a technicality. As Taser use proliferates throughout the country as a “less than lethal” alternative to guns, Dominique Franklin lies in a casket dead due to this same less-than-lethal weapon. Afrikans in Chicago are 76% of the tasings and it is believed that we are 100% of the tasing deaths (2).
Although women are 5% of the victims of police shootings they are still more likely not to have been armed, or in their homes, or driving cars when their deaths occur. Children who are sleeping and playing are victims of police shootings as well. Women are the main victims of police sexual assault and domestic violence.
Although the CAARPR charged Genocide in March of 2014, it was the actions of our young people at the CAT Convention in November 2014 that made the U.S. take notice. Although we asked for data on police murders at the CERD convention, the Deaths in Custody Act was passed after the death of Michael Brown and when the protest of We Charge Genocide came to International attention.
ProPublica reported in Deadly Force, in Black and White, that young Black men are 21 times as likely as their white peers to be killed by police, citing FBI reports filed from 2010 to 2012. And white officers are responsible for 68% of the deaths of people of color.
Per the 1951 report We Charge Genocide, “Once the classic method of lynching was the rope. Now it is the policeman’s bullet.”
Impact of the Action of the State party (if any) / Clearly the United States’ actions have had no impact on the deaths of Afrikans in America and it still allows for their public lynching on our streets and neighbourhoods.
Other Comments / Stop the Police from lynching our people and killing our children
Other Comments cont. / Begin a DOJ investigation of the Chicago Police Department for rapes, murders, and torture.
Begin a DOJ investigation of Dante Servin for the murder of Rekia Boyd
Affirm the rebellions and uprisings against impunity and immunity of police in cases of rape, murder and torture
Overall NGO Grades for the follow-up Action of the State party[1]:
C1: Some actions taken, but recommendations are not really implemented; C2: No action taken; E: measures taken are contrary to the recommendations

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[1] The NGO Grades are made in accordance with the assessment grades of the HR Committee (see the page 1) so that both grades can be directly compared