A letter signed by all 54 African nations requested the UN Human Rights Council to urgently debate racism and police violence as protests over George Floyd's death grow around the world.
African countries on Friday called on the United Nation Human Rights Council to urgently debate racism and police impunity, amid growing protests over George Floyd's death in the United States and other parts of the world.
Burkina Faso's ambassador to the UN in Geneva wrote the letter on behalf of the 54 African countries, asking the UN's top human rights body for an "urgent debate" on "racially inspired human rights violations, police brutality against people of African descent and the violence against the peaceful protests that call for these injustices to stop."
The appeal comes after Floyd's family, relatives of other victims of police brutality, and nearly 600 NGOs urged the council to urgently address the issue of systemic racism and police violence.
"The protests the world is witnessing are a rejection of the fundamental racial inequality and discrimination that characterize life in the United States for black people, and other people of color," the letter said.
