刀䔀倀伀刀吀 伀䘀 吀䠀䔀 䤀一吀䔀刀一䄀吀䤀伀一䄀䰀 䌀伀䴀䴀䤀匀匀䤀伀一 伀䘀 䤀一儀唀䤀刀夀 伀一 匀夀匀吀䔀䴀䤀䌀 刀䄀䌀䤀匀吀 倀伀䰀䤀䌀䔀 嘀䤀伀䰀䔀一䌀䔀 䄀䜀䄀䤀一匀吀 倀䔀伀倀䰀䔀 伀䘀 䄀䘀刀䤀䌀䄀一 䐀䔀匀䌀䔀一吀 䤀一 吀䠀䔀 唀一䤀吀䔀䐀 匀吀䄀吀䔀匀 䴀䄀刀䌀䠀 ㈀ ㈀㄀ Photo details: Row 1, left to right: Aaron Campbell, Alberta Spruill, Andrew Kearse, Antonio Garcia Jr, Barry Gedeus, Botham Shem Jean, Breonna Taylor. Row 2, left to right: Casey Goodson, Clinton Allen, Damian Daniels, Daniel Prude, Darius Tarver, Eric Garner, Freddie Gray. Row 3, left to right, George Floyd, Henry Glover, Jacob Blake, Jason Harrison, Jayvis Benjamin, Jeffery Price, Jimmy Atchison, Jordan Baker. Row 4, left to right: Juan May, Kayla Moore, Linwood Lambert, Malcolm Ferguson, Manuel Elijah Ellis, Marquise Jones, Michael Brown, Momodou Lamin Sisay Row 5, left to right: Mubarak Soulemane, Nathaniel Pickett II, Ousmane Zongo, Patrick Dorismond, Patrick Warren, Sr, Ramarley Graham, Sean Bell Row 6, left to right: Shem Walker, Shereese Francis, Tamir Rice, Tarika Wilson, Tashii Farmer Brown, Tyrone West, Vincent Truitt Not pictured: Richie Lee Harbison REPORT OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION OF INQUIRY ON SYSTEMIC RACIST POLICE VIOLENCE AGAINST PEOPLE OF AFRICAN DESCENT IN THE UNITED STATES MArcH 2021 REPORT OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION OF INQUIRY ON SYSTEMIC RACIST POLICE VIOLENCE AGAINST PEOPLE OF AFRICAN DESCENT IN THE U.S. COMMISSIONERS Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, Barbados Professor Niloufer Bhagwat, India Mr. Xolani Maxwell Boqwana, South Africa Professor Mireille Fanon-Mendès France, France Dr. Arturo Fournier Facio, Costa Rica Judge Peter Herbert OBE, UK Ms. Hina Jilani, Pakistan Professor Rashida Manjoo, South Africa Professor Osamu Niikura, Japan Sir Clare K. Roberts, QC, Antigua and Barbuda Mr. Bert Samuels, Jamaica Mr. Hannibal Uwaifo, Nigeria RAPPORTEURS Professor Horace Campbell, United States Professor Marjorie Cohn, United States Ms. Ria Julien, United States Professor Priscilla Ocen, United States 4 REPORT OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION OF INQUIRY ON SYSTEMIC RACIST POLICE VIOLENCE AGAINST PEOPLE OF AFRICAN DESCENT IN THE U.S. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 6 I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 8 II. INTRODUCTION 14 III. THE GENESIS OF SYSTEMIC RACIST POLICE VIOLENCE AND STRUCTURAL RACISM IN THE UNITED STATES 26 CASES HEARD BY THE COMMISSION 41 IV. FINDINGS OF FACT 49 1. PRETEXTUAL TRAFFic STOPS ARE A COMMON PRECURSOR TO POLicE KILLINGS AND USES OF EXCESSivE FOrcE AGAINST PEOPLE OF AFricAN DESCENT 50 2. “BROKEN WINDOWS” OR “OrdER MAINTENANCE” POLiciNG TriGGERS DEADLY POLicE VIOLENCE AGAINST PEOPLE OF AFricAN DESCENT 53 3. POLicE KILLINGS OF PEOPLE OF AFricAN DESCENT SYSTEMATicALLY FOLLOW VIOLATIONS OF THEir FOURTH AMENDMENT RIGHTS 56 4. POLicE ROUTINELY USE EXCESSivE AND LETHAL RESTRAINTS AGAINST PEOPLE OF AFricAN DESCENT 57 5. LETHAL POLicE VIOLENCE AGAINST PEOPLE OF AFricAN DESCENT IS EXACERBATED BY MEdicAL APARTHEid AND POLicE FAILURE TO PROvidE MEdicAL ATTENTION 61 6. LETHAL POLicE VIOLENCE AGAINST PEOPLE OF AFricAN DESCENT EXPEriENciNG MENTAL HEALTH CriSES IS SYSTEMATic 62 7. POLicE SYSTEMATicALLY USE EXCESSivE FOrcE AGAINST CIS- AND TRANSGENDER BLACK WOMEN, GirLS, AND FEMMES 65 8. SYSTEMic RAciST POLicE VIOLENCE KILLS AND TRAUMATIZES BLACK CHILdrEN AND YOUTH 68 9. RAciST POLicE VIOLENCE TRAUMATIZES AND DEVASTATES FAMILIES AND COMMUNITIES 70 10. BLACK IMMIGRANTS ARE PARTicULARLY VULNERABLE TO SYSTEMic RAciST POLicE VIOLENCE AND POLicE KILLINGS 72 11. LEGAL ACTORS ARE COMPLiciT IN POLicE VIOLENCE AND KILLINGS OF BLACK PEOPLE THROUGH QUALIFIED IMMUNITY AND OTHER FORMS OF SYSTEMic IMPUNITY 73 V. SYSTEMIC RACIST VIOLENCE IN POLICING AGAINST PEOPLE OF AFRICAN DESCENT IN THE UNITED STATES HAS RESULTED IN A PATTERN OF GROSS AND RELIABLY ATTESTED VIOLATIONS OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS 86 VI. U.S. LAW AND POLICE PRACTICES DO NOT COMPLY WITH INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS LAW AND STANDARDS GOVERNING THE USE OF FOrcE 97 VII. THE SYSTEMIC RACISM IN POLICE VIOLENCE AGAINST PEOPLE OF AFRICAN DESCENT AS CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY 110 VIII. RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE COMMISSION OF INQUIRY 121 APPENDIX I: SUMMARY OF CASES PRESENTED AT THE HEARINGS 132 APPENDIX II: INTERNATIONAL LAW ADDENDUM ON HUMAN RIGHTS AND FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS 167 APPENDIX III: INTERNATIONAL LAW ADDENDUM ON CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY 176 5 REPORT OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION OF INQUIRY ON SYSTEMIC RACIST POLICE VIOLENCE AGAINST PEOPLE OF AFRICAN DESCENT IN THE U.S. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The International Commission of Inquiry on Systemic Racist Police Violence Against People of African Descent in the United States expresses its gratitude for the many people who have contributed to its work. We extend our deepest gratitude to the witnesses who provided testimony to the Commission, particularly the family members of victims of systemic racist police violence against people of African descent, the attor- neys for family members and victims, and expert witnesses. We thank: Ms. Lakisha Alomaja, Ms. Dominic Archibald, Mr. Mark Arons, Prof. Michael Avery, Ms. Lonita Baker, Ms. Janet Baker, Ms. Maria Banjo, Mrs. Nicole Paultre Bell, Ms. Montye Benjamin, Mr. James Bible, Mr. Jacob Blake, Mrs. Jindia Blount, Mr. Kyle Brazile, Ms. Gwen Carr, Ms. Monet Carter-Mixon, Prof. Laura Cohen, Ms. Venethia Cook, Mr. Benjamin Crump, Mr. Cory Dalmata, Mr. Brendan Daniels, Mr. J. Denton Daniels, Ms. Annette Daniels Watkins, Ms. Marva Davis, Mr. Ares Davoice, Mr. Anthony Eiland, Ms. Collette Flanagan, Mr. Philonise Floyd, Mr. Lee Friedland, Mr. Dale Galipo, Ms. Heather Garcia, Ms. Sarah Gelsomino, Ms. Diminga George, Prof. Camille Gibson, Mr. Gerald Griggs, Ms . Laura Harper, Mr. Seth Harris, Mr. Geoff Henley, Mr. Jimmy Hill, Ms. Alex- is Hill, Mr. Abdul Jaiteh, Ms. Allison Jean, Ms. Deborah Jones-Bush, Ms. Tawanda Jones-Bush, Ms. Addie Kitchen, Mr. Andre Lagomarsino, Mr. Christopher Lawrence, Ms. Constance Malcolm, Rev. Kevin McCall, Ms. Lezley McSpadden, Mr. Patrick Megaro, Mr. Lee Merritt, Mr. Billy Mills, Ms. Maria Moore, Ms. Omo Klumsum Muhammad, Judge William Murphy, Ms. Angelique Negroni-Kearse, Mr. Hawk Newsome, Mr. David Owens, Mr. Dwayne Palmer, Ms. Tamika Palmer, Ms. Tamala Payne, Mr. Camilo Perez Bustillo, Mr. Adante Pointer, Ms. Denise Price, Mr. Joseph Prude, Ms. Jasmine Rand, Ms. Samaria Rice, Ms. Andrea Ritchie, Ms. Jasmine Roberson, Mr. Sanford Rubenstein, Mr. Royce Russell, Ms. Jamika Scott, Mr. Derek Sells, Ms. Nabeha Shaer, Mr. David Shurtz, Mr. Derek Sieck, Mr. Lare Sisay, Ms. Jasmine Smith, Mr. Chad Steen, Mr. Tom Steenson, Mr. Thomas Needham Sweeney, Mr. Kevin Tarver, Mr. Flint Taylor, Mr. Donald Thompson, Mr. Steve Vaccaro, Ms. Greeny Valbuena, Prof. Penny Venetis, Ms. Annette Walker, Mr. Patrick Warren, Jr., Mr. Daryl Washington, and Mr. Courtney Wilson. We thank the Commissioners: Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, Barbados; Professor Niloufer Bhagwat, India; Mr. Xolani Maxwell Boqwana, South Africa; Professor Mireille Fanon-Mendès France, France; Dr. Arturo Fournier Facio, Costa Rica; Judge Peter Herbert OBE, UK; Ms. Hina Jilani, Pakistan; Professor Rashida Manjoo, South Africa; Professor Osamu Niikura, Japan; Sir Clare K. Roberts, QC, Antigua and Barbuda; Mr. Bert Samuels, Jamaica; and Mr. Hannibal Uwaifo, Nigeria for their service on the Commission. We thank the Rapporteurs: Professor Horace Campbell; Professor Marjorie Cohn; Ms. Ria Julien; and Pro- fessor Priscilla Ocen, for their careful and thoughtful work in developing this report. We thank Gail Davidson, Amit Azulay, Tim Agaba Baroraho, Sara Ali Elbanna, Oscar Fishman, Dina Nehme, Sarah Petrick, Tess Pilkington, Leslie Diane Poston, Tasha Thomas, Eugenia Valais, Taryn Williams, and Al- exandria Yakes for their research and outreach assistance. We thank the Coordinator of the Commission, Lennox Hinds, and the members of the Steering Committee: Anne Else, Pooja Gehi, Claire Gilchrist, Nana Gyamfi, Richard Harvey, Charlotte Kates, Beth Lyons, Kerry McLean, Jeanne Mirer, Emel McDowell and Micòl Savia for their guidance throughout this project 6 REPORT OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION OF INQUIRY ON SYSTEMIC RACIST POLICE VIOLENCE AGAINST PEOPLE OF AFRICAN DESCENT IN THE U.S. We thank the National Lawyers Guild Foundation for its financial support that made the work of the Commission possible. 7 REPORT OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION OF INQUIRY ON SYSTEMIC RACIST POLICE VIOLENCE AGAINST PEOPLE OF AFRICAN DESCENT IN THE U.S. I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 8 REPORT OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION OF INQUIRY ON SYSTEMIC RACIST POLICE VIOLENCE AGAINST PEOPLE OF AFRICAN DESCENT IN THE U.S. 1. The purpose of the Commission of Inquiry on Systemic Racial Police Violence (Commission) is to ex- amine whether widespread and systematic racist violence in policing against people of African descent in the United States of America (U.S.) has resulted in a continuing pattern of gross and reliably attested violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms. The Commissioners find a pattern and practice of racist police violence in the U.S. in the context of a history of oppression dating back to the extermination of First Nations peoples, the enslavement of Africans, the militarization of U.S. society, and the continued perpetuation of structural racism. 2. The Commission was established in the wake of the public execution of George Floyd, after millions of people saw him tortured and choked to death by police officer Derek Chauvin. Massive protests against police violence towards people of African descent erupted throughout the U.S. and around the world. The families of Mr. Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Michael Brown and Philando Castile joined 600 rights groups and petitioned the