FN ska hålla akutdebatt om rasism och polisvåld

Förenta nationernas råd för mänskliga rättigheter (United Nations Human Rights Council, UNHRC) är en internationell organisation under de Förenta nationerna som har till uppgift att ta upp frågor om brott mot de mänskliga rättigheterna, och är en av tio organisation inom FN som arbetar med mänskliga rättigheter.Granskningen av mänskliga rättigheter sköts av individer, så kallade specialrapportörer, och arbetsgrupper. För att skapa oberoende är dessa oavlönade. President för rådet är slovenen Vojislav Šuc (tidigare Sloveniens ambassadör i Sverige).

The George Floyd protests are an ongoing series of protests and unrest against police brutality and alleged racism in policing, which began in the United States in Minneapolis on May 26, 2020. These followed the killing of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, after Derek Chauvin, a white police officer, knelt on Floyd's neck for almost nine minutes during an arrest the previous day.The unrest began as local protests in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area of Minnesota before quickly spreading across the entire nation and in over 60 countries internationally in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. Over 2,000 cities and towns in the United States and around the world saw protests and demonstrations as of June 13, and protests extended into a third week after Floyd's death in many cities. While the majority of protests have been peaceful, demonstrations in some cities descended into riots and widespread looting, with more being marked by street skirmishes and significant police violence, notably against peaceful protesters and reporters. At least 200 cities in the U.S. had imposed curfews by June 3, while at least more than 30 states and Washington, D.C, activated over 62,000 National Guard personnel due to the mass unrest. By June 3, at least 11,000 people had been arrested, including all four police officers involved in the arrest which led to Floyd's death.The protests have led to numerous legislative proposals on all levels intended to combat police misconduct, systemic racism, and police brutality in the United States while the Trump administration has drawn widespread criticism for its hardline, militarized response and aggressive rhetoric. The unrest is also occurring during the global COVID-19 pandemic, with health experts warning that the protests will likely facilitate an accelerated spread or rebound of the virus. The economic impact of the protests has exacerbated the 2020 coronavirus recession by sharply curtailing consumer confidence, straining local businesses, and overwhelming public infrastructure with large-scale property damage.

Black Lives Matter (BLM) is an international human rights movement, originating from within the African American community, which campaigns against violence and systemic racism towards black people. BLM regularly holds protests speaking out against police brutality and police killings of black people, and broader issues such as racial profiling, and racial inequality in the United States criminal justice system.In 2013, the movement began with the use of the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter on social media after the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of African-American teen Trayvon Martin in February 2012. The movement became nationally recognized for street demonstrations following the 2014 deaths of two African Americans: Michael Brown—resulting in protests and unrest in Ferguson, a city near St. Louis—and Eric Garner in New York City. Since the Ferguson protests, participants in the movement have demonstrated against the deaths of numerous other African Americans by police actions and/or while in police custody. In the summer of 2015, Black Lives Matter activists became involved in the 2016 United States presidential election. The originators of the hashtag and call to action, Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi, expanded their project into a national network of over 30 local chapters between 2014 and 2016. The overall Black Lives Matter movement, however, is a decentralized network and has no formal hierarchy.The movement returned to national headlines and gained further international attention during the global George Floyd protests in 2020 following Floyd's death by police officer Derek Chauvin in Minneapolis, Minnesota.