ACLU Supporter –

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights recently released a historic report that globally addresses systemic racism and law enforcement violence against Black people and people of African descent – and we have an urgent window to act on it.

Next Monday, this report will be formally presented to the Human Rights Council, which will consider a resolution brought by members of the African Group to establish a time-bound global accountability mechanism that would examine the root causes of systemic racism against Black people and investigate police killings, excessive use of force, and other human rights violations by law enforcement agencies.

But before that happens, we need you to take action with us: Please add your name to our petition and tell the Biden administration to support crucial international accountability for systemic racism now.

The ACLU is specifically urging President Biden and Secretary of State Blinken to heed the High Commissioner's recommendations in her groundbreaking report, support the new resolution, and take action on international human rights by firmly and publicly supporting:

• An international accountability mechanism led by independent experts reporting to the U.N. Human Rights Council, which would investigate systemic racism in the context of law enforcement, including in the United States.
• The passage of domestic legislation that is strongly aligned with the U.N.'s report, including H.R. 40 to study reparations for slavery.
• The establishment of a National Human Rights Institution and the appointment of a Human Rights Czar with a mandate to implement a national plan of action to fulfill international human rights obligations, especially on racial justice.
• Transformative and meaningful changes to our public safety and criminal legal systems, including initiatives to divest from police departments and reinvest in the communities most harmed by police violence and over-policing.

ACLU Supporter, if the U.S. truly wants to be considered a global leader on human rights and racial justice, then the work to eliminate systemic racism must begin at home – starting with our policing institutions that still kill about 1,000 people every year.

If you're with us in these urgent demands, then add your name to our petition today.

Thank you for taking action,

Jamil Dakwar
Pronouns: He, him, his
Human Rights Program Director, ACLU

P.S. Since the brutal murder of George Floyd last summer, the ACLU – along with over 600 civil society organizations, hundreds of families of victims of police violence, and dozens of member states of the United Nations – have been demanding the U.N. Human Rights Council push for international accountability on racist police brutality in the United States. With this new report and resolution, it's up to the Biden administration to follow suit: Sign our petition.