African nations seek scrutiny of U.S., others over racism

GENEVA — The European Union and some Western nations appealed Tuesday for more time to discuss a resolution drafted for the U.N.’s top human rights body that seeks international scrutiny of systemic racism against people of African descent in response to the recent killings of African Americans by police.

The draft resolution, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press, singles out the United States and could become the centerpiece of a hastily scheduled debate by the Human Rights Council in Geneva on Wednesday.

The text calls for a commission of inquiry — the rights body’s most powerful tool to inspect human rights violations — to look into “systemic racism” and abuses against “Africans and of people of African descent in the United States of America and other parts of the world recently affected by law enforcement agencies” especially encounters that resulted in deaths.

Such work would be carried out “with a view to bringing perpetrators to justice,” the text states. The proposed commission would “examine the federal, state and local government responses to peaceful protests, including the alleged use of excessive force against protesters, bystanders and journalists.”

At an “informal” meeting to discuss the initiative presented by the Africa Group late Monday, diplomats and human rights defenders expressed overwhelming support for efforts to fight racism.

But Peru’s envoy appealed for more time, saying her country citing the COVID-19 crisis and that such an “important topic” merited a consensus from the 47-member council.

The European Union’s representative, Ida Krogh Mikkelsen, said the bloc’s 27 member nations were “still looking at this, and are reserving our position.” She also proposed tweaks to the draft.

One Western diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the AP it was not appropriate for a democracy with a “working” judicial system like the U.S. to be held to the same level of scrutiny that countries like Syria have faced through the commission of inquiry mechanism.