A/76/302 Social Council and the International Court of Justice all possessed the cap acity to address State-specific practices of racial discrimination and segregation, as exemplified by the United Nations response to apartheid in South Africa, they systematically refrained from exerting their power to condemn the Jim Crow laws and practices. 19. The Coordinator of the Slave Route Project: Resistance, Liberty, Heritage, of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Tabue Nguma, discussed reparations in relation to history. He explained that repairing centuries of denial of the humanity and history of people of African descent and their contributions to the progress of humanity should begin with the writing of an objective history freed from prejudices. He further stressed the importance of understanding and acknowledging that the consequences of slavery continued to structure the present through racism. Thus, ending structural racism and offering everyone, whatever their skin colour, fair treatment in all areas of life was a prerequisite for “healing” the present and engaging collectively towards a better future. He added that racism, which always expressed itself through hatred, violence, destruction and injustices, was affecting everyone, not only Africans and people of African descent. For this reason, eradicating racism was an imperative for all in their collective endeavour to become dignified human beings. 20. During the interactive dialogue, the Chair of the Working Group highlighted that a major flaw of the international law framework was its inability to addr ess the interests of large minorities within a State, when these interests differed from those of the majority represented by the State at the international level. A member of the Working Group, Michal Balcerzak, noted that actions for remedies and reparat ions should be grounded in international law but that the existing framework on reparations for States’ internationally wrongful acts was inadequate for reparations for the transatlantic trade in enslaved Africans and colonialism. In response, Ms. Doyle stressed the need for a new framework within international law that would link reparations to the historical root causes of systemic racism and address the human rights violations suffered by people of African descent in all countries. Mr. Nguma recalled that the current debate on reparations was a continuation of the demands articulated by enslaved Africans since the abolition of slavery, noting that the power relations that characterized the slavery system continued to structure societies even until the present. He noted that the killing of George Floyd and the subsequent global protests could trigger structural change and stressed the importance of United Nations support for this movement. 21. The fourth panel focused on the current situation at the midterm review of the Decade and the twentieth anniversary of the adoption of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action. The Vice-Chair of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Verene Shepherd, presented general recommendation No. 36 (20 20) on preventing and combating racial profiling by law enforcement officials , adopted on 24 November 2020. She noted that racial profiling by law enforcement officials was a regular complaint by historically marginalized groups, especially people of African descent, and recalled that United Nations treaty bodies had repeatedly recommended that States parties take measures to put an end to the practice. She further explained that, in addition to being unlawful, racial profiling was ineffective and counterproductive as a general law enforcement tool and had negative and cumulative effects on the individuals and communities that were victims of it. She presented specific recommendations made in relation to legislative and policy measures, human rights education and training, recruitment measures, community policing, disaggregated data, accountability and artificial intelligence. In particular, incidents of racial profiling by law enforcement agencies should be investigated effectively in accordance with international human rights standards, those responsible 21-11641 7/22