E/CN.4/2001/21 page 20 behaviour. But evidence shows that these disparities also are due in fact to discrimination in the administration of justice and to politics and practices that have an unjustified disparate impact on minorities and people of colour” (Report by the Presidential Advisory Board on Race, One America in the 21st century - Forging a New Future, p. 77). 41. While controversy continues to surround many of the issues involving race and the criminal justice system, the findings in one area of study are virtually unanimous. Research into the death penalty over the past two decades has consistently shown a pattern of sentencing anomalies which cannot be explained without reference to racial factors. “The United States Government has stated that it is ‘unalterably opposed’ to the unfair application of the death penalty. Now is the time for it to prove it”, declares Amnesty International. The Special Rapporteur supports Amnesty International’s appeal and requests the Government of the United States of America to consider this matter urgently in the light of its commitments to human rights, and in particular to seek an equitable, more humane and just solution to the application of the death penalty. D. Environmental racism 42. The NGO Citizens Organized for Environmental Justice has informed the Special Rapporteur that in Duval County, in Jacksonville (Florida), a community of 3,930 persons, 90 per cent of whom are African Americans, is threatened by the presence of a toxic waste dump close to their residential area. The spokespersons of the community allege that in 1928, with a view to segregating its inhabitants, Jacksonville deliberately moved the community to that place in the knowledge that it was situated close to a toxic waste dump. It was only in 1999 that the Duval County community noticed the presence of toxic substances in the area (including lead, aluminium, mercury, arsenic, DDT, PCB, dioxin and furan). These toxic substances were said to have polluted the waterways and groundwaters of the county. As the situation appears alarming, the Special Rapporteur has forwarded all available documentation to the United States Government, urging it to take whatever action is necessary. E. Racial discrimination in combating drug use and trafficking 43. Several NGOs denounce and stigmatize racial discrimination in the fight against drugs in the United States. One report in particular caught the attention of the Special Rapporteur, the Human Rights Watch issue of June 2000, entitled “Punishment and Prejudice: Racial Disparities in the War on Drugs”. Among the report’s key findings, “Nationwide, blacks comprise 62 per cent of drug offenders admitted to state prison. In seven states, blacks constitute between 80 and 90 per cent of all people sent to prison on drug charges. Nationwide, black men are sent to state prison on drug charges at 13 times the rate of white men; two out of five blacks sent to prison are convicted of drug offences, compared to one in four whites; black men are incarcerated at 9.5 times the rate of white men. In 11 states, they are incarcerated at rates 12 to 26 times greater than that of white men. The 10 states with the greatest racial disparities are: Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Maine, Iowa, Maryland, Ohio, New Jersey, North Carolina and West Virginia. In these states, blacks are sent to prison on drugs charges at 27 to 57 times the rate of white men.” “Most drug offenders are white. Five times as many whites use drugs as blacks”, said Jamie Fellner, Human Rights Watch associate counsel and author of the reports.