A/HRC/11/36/Add.3 page 16 51. Juvenile justice was an issue of concern for civil society organizations, particularly when it represents an entry point into criminal justice (see subsection III.C). The rate of detention of youth in 2003 was five times higher for African Americans and two times higher for Hispanics than for whites.27 The Special Rapporteur was also presented with data concerning the disproportional representation of African American youth in several stages of the juvenile justice process, including arrests, detentions, petitions and prison.28 Reference was made to the issue of sentencing of youth to life without parole, which is applied in 39 states, as well as on reported racial bias in these practices, particularly in certain states. In the 25 states for which data is available the rate of African Americans serving life without parole sentences is on average 10 times higher than whites, relative to the state population. In California, the rate is 18 times that of white youth. Even after controlling for differences in murder arrest rates, racial disparities remain. 29 Racial profiling 52. Civil society generally refers to two main forms of racial profiling. First, a particular form of the practice targets predominantly African-American or Hispanic minorities, generally but not exclusively in stops and searches by local and state police.30 Second, in the context of counterterrorism policies, racial profiling practices have reportedly targeted primarily people of Arab, Muslim, South Asian or Middle-Eastern descent, particularly in air travel and border control. 53. Some civil society accounts point to widespread existence of racial profiling. It has been suggested that approximately 32 million people in the United States report having been victims of this practice.31 While exact numbers may be difficult to assert, it was a common recognition among virtually all interlocutors that the practice of racial profiling continues to exist. Numerous 27 Sickmund, Melissa, Sladky, T.J., and Kang, Wei, 2005, Census of Juveniles in Residential Placement Databook. Quoted in USHRN Working Group on Juvenile Justice, 2008, Children in Conflict with the Law: Juvenile Justice and the U.S. Failure to Comply with Obligations under the Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, p. 8. Available at http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cerd/docs/ngos/usa/USHRN14.doc. 28 USHRN Working Group on Juvenile Justice, Children in Conflict with the Law, p. 6. 29 Human Rights Watch, “When I Die, They’ll Send Me Home”: Youth Sentenced to Life without Parole in California, p. 26. Published in January 2008. Available at http://hrw.org/ reports/2008/us0108/us0108web.pdf. 30 As an example, see American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, 2008, A Study of Racially Disparate Outcomes in the Los Angeles Police Department. 31 Amnesty International. Threat and Humiliation: Racial Profiling, Domestic Security and Human Rights in the United States, p.1. Available at http://www.amnestyusa.org/ racial_profiling/report/rp_report.pdf.