A/HRC/45/44 regulations than white people.34 In Spain, 70 per cent of people of African descent surveyed reported being targeted by the police because of race. In China, police enforced orders of eviction people of African descent from apartments, and prohibited them from staying in hotels or from frequenting restaurants. Some stakeholders noted that action by the State in Guangzhou to curb this misconduct failed to repair the reputational harm caused to people of African descent. 40. Intersectional populations have witnessed significant police interventions during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Working Group was informed that, in Spain, people of African descent living with mental illnesses have been subjected to particular insensitivity, force and violence from the police. A man of African descent was violently arrested while informing police that he had a mental illness. When a woman of African descent tried to tell the police that her son lived with mental illness, they reportedly replied, “even the crazies have to stay at home”. 3. Police violence during the pandemic 41. During the COVID-19 pandemic, people of African descent in many States have reported a rise in police violence, particularly under the pretext of enforcing social distancing requirements. The Working Group was informed that, in Spain, 70 per cent of people of African descent stopped by police reported force or brutality. One young man of African descent heading to a pharmacy was harassed, fined and threatened by police when he defended his right to purchase medicine. A woman of African descent was barred from entering a police station to file a complaint on threat of being beaten by police officers, who took a photograph of her complaint on the street. Many of those harassed by law enforcement officials reported not leaving their homes again, even for emergency reasons, such as to procure food or medicines. In some cases, police violence against citizens was caught on video, which was also a reason given to justify the detention and arrest of witnesses to police violence. In Spain, the National Police has been labelled a key human rights violator, although other law enforcement entities have been involved in incidents. 42. In Brazil, representatives of civil society informed the Working Group about an increase in the presence of the military operating in favelas, resulting in more deaths and violence. In the past three months, they reported a 36 per cent increase in police killings, including of a large number of children. Brazilian persons of African descent complain of impunity and their lack of recourse. In Colombia, civil society sources refer to a sharp rise in police violence and the disproportionate enforcement of COVID-19-related restrictions against people of African descent. 43. The Working Group has called the killings of Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd and Breonna Taylor tragedies that evoke the very terror that the lynching regime in the United States was intended to inspire, noting that that the history of policing in the United States started with slave patrols and social control, where the human property of enslavers was “protected” with violence and impunity against people of African descent. In the United States, this legacy of racial terror remains evident in modern-day policing.35 44. The abuses of authority that have been witnessed during the pandemic also set the stage for global protest at systemic racism in law enforcement and quasi-law enforcement in the killings of several people of African descent. Globally, widespread protests have illustrated how people of African descent and others recognize their lack of visibility, and the disregard and police violence of which they are victim in local practices in their own communities. Mass demonstrations were held for weeks in capitals around the world, including in all 50 States of the United States. 34 35 10 Chris Baynes, “Coronavirus: Police twice as likely to fine young Bame men for breaching lockdown rules”, Independent, 27 July 2020. OHCHR, “UN experts condemn modern-day racial terror lynchings in US and call for systemic reform and justice”, press statement, 5 June 2020.