UN to U.S.: Look Into Police Brutality

On Friday, the UN Committee Against Torture asked the United States to better investigate and prosecute police brutality, particularly when it comes to shooting unarmed black youth and the use of taser weapons in non-life-threatening situations. This was the panel’s first review of the U.S. since 2006, and comes in the aftermath of protests regarding the fatal shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. The panel also criticized “excruciating pain and prolonged suffering” endured by prisoners during “botched executions” as well as frequent rapes of inmates, shackling of pregnant women in some prisons, and extensive use of solitary confinement. It also mentioned reports of police brutality toward minorities, immigrants, and homosexuals, as well as concerns over militarization of the police force.