Protesters’ grievances need to be heard, says UN rights chief

United Nations, June 4

The UN’s top human rights official has said that the protests in the US triggered by the custodial killing of George Floyd highlighted “police violence” against people of colour and the voices calling for an end to the “endemic and structural racism that blights” the American society need to be heard.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said on Wednesday that the grievances at the heart of the protests that have erupted in hundreds of US cities following the death of 46-year-old African-American Floyd need to be heard and addressed if the country is to move on from its tragic history of racism and violence.

“The voices calling for an end to the killings of unarmed African-Americans need to be heard. The voices calling for an end to police violence need to be heard. And the voices calling for an end to the endemic and structural racism that blights US society need to be heard,” Bachelet said.

She stressed that while structural racism and police violence are found across the world, the anger “we have seen in the US, erupting as Covid-19 exposes glaring inequalities in society, shows why far-reaching reforms and inclusive dialogue are needed there to end unlawful killings and racial bias in policing. — PTI