A UN committee said on Friday, August 23, that it was concerned about the “racist violence” in the United Kingdom, illustrated by the recent far-right riots, calling on the authorities to take action, in particular through “severe sanctions”The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), which is composed of eighteen independent experts, examined the situation in the United Kingdom on 13 and 14 August as part of a regular review.
In its conclusions published on Friday, the committee said: “particularly concerned by the recurring racist acts and violence against ethnic and ethno-religious minorities, migrants, refugees and asylum seekers committed by white supremacist and far-right individuals and groups, including violent acts committed in late July and early August”.
The riots, the worst in the UK since 2011, have affected dozens of towns and villages in England and Northern Ireland, following the knife attack that killed three young girls on 29 July. Rumours about the suspect, incorrectly described as a Muslim asylum seeker, were spread by influential far-right accounts on social media, leading to an outbreak of xenophobic and racist street violence the day after the attack.
“Persistence of hate crimes”
Many people have also been arrested for hateful online posts. More than 1,000 people linked to the riots have been arrested according to police. More generally, CERD expresses concern about “the persistence of hate crimes, hate speech and xenophobic incidents on various platforms and from politicians and public figures” in the United Kingdom.
The committee, which monitors the implementation by States parties of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, calls on the United Kingdom “to action” by implementing measures aimed at “reduce racist hate speech and xenophobic rhetoric”.
It also highlights the need “thorough investigations and severe sanctions” in the face of racist crimes. The committee also discusses its “concerns about institutional racism within the police and criminal justice system” and criticises certain police practices, particularly during stops and searches, which particularly target ethnic minorities. He also expressed alarm at the fact that the excessive use of force by the police affects “disproportionately people of African descent and other ethnic minorities”.
Source: Lemonde
