A/HRC/41/54/Add.2
37.
With respect to youth, between 2006 and 2016 the proportion of prisoners who
belonged to racial and ethnic minorities rose from 25 per cent to 41 per cent. 57 Racial and
ethnic minorities are generally three times more likely to be stopped and searched than
Whites, and Blacks are over six times more likely to be stopped and searched than Whites. 58
38.
The Lammy Review highlights that, particularly with respect to the differential
treatment of racial and ethnic minorities in the criminal justice system, “there is currently
no evidence-based explanation for these disparities”. 59 The findings mentioned above
should not be assumed by any means to reflect proven disparate levels of criminality among
racial and ethnic minorities. For example, Whites are more likely to have drugs found on
their person during stops and searches, but Blacks are eight times more likely to be subject
to such stops.60 There can be no question that a pervasive and officially tolerated culture of
racial profiling is at work in certain police forces, and that racial and ethnic minority
children and youth are among the most vulnerable. In some parts of the United Kingdom,
such as Glasgow, Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children and youth are on the front lines of
racial and ethnic profiling. In consultations, racial and ethnic minority communities
reported a prevalence of racial and gender stereotypes, as a result of which racial and ethnic
minority children – especially boys – are presumptively treated as full-grown adults with an
inherently dangerous and violent nature.
39.
Racial and ethnic minority offenders are overrepresented in both the adult (25 per
cent) and youth (40 per cent) prison estates. 61 While there has been a reduction in the
overall number of children entering the juvenile justice system for the first time, not all
children have benefited equally from this reduction. Among first-time entrants from March
2006 to March 2016, the number of racial and ethnic minority children entering the youth
justice system fell by 72 per cent, compared with an 86-per-cent drop for White children.62
Overrepresentation is more acute among Black, Muslim and Gypsy, Roma and Traveller
youth.63 As of March 2017, racial and ethnic minority children accounted for 45 per cent
(397) of imprisoned youth but for only 18 per cent of the overall national youth
population.64
40.
During consultations, racial and ethnic minority community representatives and civil
society actors repeatedly highlighted the racialized and ruinous impact that gang-related
surveillance databases across the country have had and continue to have on these
communities. 65 A Manchester Metropolitan University study found significant racial
disparities in the number of people prosecuted and imprisoned under the “joint enterprise”
doctrine. 66 More than 75 per cent of Black, Asian and minority ethnic individuals
imprisoned under that doctrine found that gang and neighbourhood narratives were used by
the prosecutors during their trial, compared to only about 40 per cent of Whites. 67 The study
also found that while 89 per cent of those on the Manchester Police gang list were Black or
had a minority ethnic background, only 23 per cent of those convicted of serious youth
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
Ibid., p. 4.
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads
/attachment_data/file/562977/police-powers-procedures-hosb1516.pdf, p. 25.
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads
/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/643001/lammy-review-final-report.pdf, p. 5.
http://www.stop-watch.org/uploads/documents/The_Colour_of_Injustice.pdf, p. iv, 12–15
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads
/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/643001/lammy-review-final-report.pdf, p. 3.
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment
_data/file/585897/youth-justice-statistics-2015-2016.pdf, p. 27.
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads
/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/643001/lammy-review-final-report.pdf, p. 12.
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment
_data/file/676072/youth_justice_statistics_2016-17.pdf, p. 26.
See, e.g., www.amnesty.org.uk/files/201805/Inside%20the%20matrix.pdf?x_Q7G4ar5uHbWLAklmQ9NSuLFMzrwSyq.
www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/sites/crimeandjustice.org.uk/files/Dangerous
%20assocations%20Joint%20Enterprise%20gangs%20and%20racism.pdf.
Ibid., p. 15.
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