UN rights experts urge US to ‘unequivocally’ condemn racism

A protester is arrested after the 'America First' Pro Trump group clashed with counter protesters during dual rallies in Laguna Beach, California on August 20, 2017. (AFP)

GENEVA: UN human rights experts called on the US and its leadership on Wednesday to “unequivocally and unconditionally” condemn racist speech and crimes, warning that a failure to do so could fuel further violent incidents.
The “early warning and urgent action” statement, reserved for serious situations, was issued by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), although it stopped short of criticizing US President Donald Trump by name.
Trump drew widespread condemnation when he blamed both sides for violence that broke out at a rally in Charlottesville, Va., organized by neo-Nazis and white nationalists. One woman, Heather Heyer, was killed after a white nationalist drove his car into a crowd of counter-protesters.
CERD said it was “disturbed by the failure at the highest political level” of the US to reject racist demonstrations. That failure could lead to “fueling the proliferation of racist discourse and incidents” in the US, the statement said. “We are alarmed by the racist demonstrations, with overtly racist slogans, chants and salutes by white nationalists, neo-Nazis, and the Ku Klux Klan, promoting white supremacy and inciting racial discrimination and hatred,” said Anastasia Crickley, who chairs the UN panel.
Trump again defended his response to the violence in Charlottesville at a rally in Arizona on Tuesday, and he threw in a promise to shut down the US government if necessary to get a wall built along the border with Mexico.
The UN experts said the alleged perpetrators of the violence should be prosecuted and, if convicted, punished with sanctions commensurate with the gravity of the crime.
US officials should also “address the root causes of the proliferation of such racist manifestations, and thoroughly investigate the phenomenon of racial discrimination...” the experts added.
They should ensure that freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly “are not exercised with the aim of destroying or denying the rights and freedoms of others.”
The US is among 177 countries to have ratified the UN pact against racial discrimination. The panel monitors compliance and reviews countries’ records every few years.