A/HRC/56/68/Add.1
been denied medical assistance by prison officials, who told them they had been sent to prison
to die, so they could not access health care.
49.
The Special Rapporteur welcomes legislative efforts to address racial discrimination
in law enforcement and the criminal justice system, such as the End Racial and Religious
Profiling Act, the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act and the First Step Act. She commends
the federal Government for taking action on these important issues, including through
Executive Order 14074, entitled Advancing Effective, Accountable Policing and Criminal
Justice Practices to Enhance Public Trust and Public Safety, which is aimed at building trust
between police and communities, improving accountability and enhancing public safety. The
Special Rapporteur also welcomes information she received about the work of the
Department of Justice on many of the issues outlined above, which includes the development
of Guidance for Federal Law Enforcement Agencies Regarding the Use of Race, Ethnicity,
Gender, National Origin, Religion, Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Disability, steps
to withdraw previous guidance that supported harsh sentencing, and the implementation of
relevant training activities. In addition, the Special Rapporteur appreciates the work of the
Department of Homeland Security on these issues, including the development of the
Department Policy on Body-worn Cameras, the update to the Department Policy on the Use
of Force, and the Policy Statement Reaffirming the Commitment to Non-discrimination in
Department of Homeland Security Activities, as well as law enforcement training activities
mandated by that policy statement.
50.
Nevertheless, sustained progress towards criminal justice reform, as an essential
component of racial justice, requires deeper transformation of public safety and criminal
justice paradigms, practices and systems. A transformative approach requires the debunking
of the false, and often implicitly or overtly racist, public narratives that overpolicing and mass
incarceration among racially marginalized groups ensures public safety effectively. Such an
approach also requires confronting the impact of the significant investment of public funds
in law enforcement and mass incarceration over the decades, concurrent with historical
underinvestment and divestment in racially marginalized communities, which runs counter
to the promotion and protection of human rights and the State’s obligations under the
International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
L.
Migration governance
51.
The Special Rapporteur is deeply concerned about reports of how systemic racism,
including pervasive anti-Blackness and antipathy to other non-white migrants, including
Latinos/Hispanics and Arabs, is deeply embedded within migration governance in the United
States. “Prevention through deterrence” policies and practices often disregard or disdain the
State’s obligation to asylum-seekers. Shocking imagery reminiscent of chattel slavery,
including one image of border patrol personnel on horseback allegedly lassoing a Haitian
man returning after having procured food for his family, convey the degrading and
dehumanizing treatment of asylum-seekers. The United States reportedly continues to
aggressively externalize and militarize its borders to prevent migration, often resulting from
instability in the Global South, to which it has directly contributed. There is an increasing
use of surveillance and other forms of digital technology to support the externalization and
militarization of borders, despite negative human rights implications.
52.
There are reports of mandatory detention of non-citizens without due process or access
to legal representation, in detention centres with inadequate, and sometimes dangerous,
conditions. Such immigration detention reportedly has a disparate impact on asylum-seekers
of African descent and those from other racially marginalized groups. The Special
Rapporteur was also very concerned to hear about the “prison to deportation pipeline”, where
individuals, often from marginalized racial and ethnic groups, are immediately transferred to
federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention after release from state prisons.
Each of these policies should be reviewed taking into consideration the Guidelines on the
Applicable Criteria and Standards relating to the Detention of Asylum-Seekers and
Alternatives to Detention.
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