A/HRC/11/36/Add.3 page 15 and Hispanics were almost 2 times more likely to experience use of police force.22 Another example concerns sentencing outcomes. A majority of studies show evidence of racially discriminatory sentencing; in particular, that individuals belonging to minorities tend to be disadvantaged in terms of the decision to incarcerate or not and in receiving harsher sentences than white individuals with comparable social and economic status.23 49. Mandatory minimum penalties have been pointed out as an important factor that promotes racial bias. A striking example refers to mandatory minimum sentences for possession of crack and powder cocaine. These sentences establish more severe penalties for persons arrested for possessing or selling crack cocaine, 81 percent of whom are African American, than for those in possession of or selling powder cocaine, 71.8 percent of whom are white or Hispanic.24 50. Civil society also pointed to evidences of racial bias in the application of the death penalty. In 2005, African Americans comprised nearly 42 percent of the number of death row inmates but only around 12 percent of the general population.25 The key factor that shows evidence of racial bias in the death penalty, according to many organizations, is the race of the victim. Nationwide, even though the absolute number of murders of blacks and whites is similar, some 80 percent of people on death row have been convicted of crimes against white victims.26 Interlocutors pointed to the critical situation in some states. In Alabama, for example, whereas 65 percent of all murders involve black victims, 80 percent of people currently awaiting execution in the state were convicted of crimes in which the victims were white. 22 Bureau of Justice Statistics, Contacts between Police and the Public, 2005, published in April 2007. Available at http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/cpp05.pdf. 23 Sentencing Project, Racial Disparity in Sentencing: A Review of the Literature. Published in January 2005. Available at http://www.sentencingproject.org/Admin/Documents/ publications/ rd_sentencing_review.pdf. 24 The average sentence for possession of less than 25 grams of powder cocaine is 14 months whereas the average sentence for the possession of less than 25 grams of crack cocaine is 65 months. See The Sentencing Project, Federal Crack Cocaine Sentencing, p.2, available at http://www.sentencingproject.org/Admin/Documents/publications/dp_cracksentencing.pdf. See also Amnesty International, USA: Amnesty International’s briefing to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, p. 6. 25 Bureau of Justice Statistics, Capital Punishment Statistics. Available at http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/cp.htm. 26 Amnesty International, Death by discrimination – the continuing role of race in capital cases, pp. 5-6.