US tells UN Human Rights Council death of Freddie Gray reveals America must do more to uphold human rights

Admission came after series of black suspects' death at hands of police

United States officials have admitted to the United Nations Human Rights Council that the country has much to improve when it comes to upholding civil rights laws.

US officials attending the human rights summit in Geneva heard widespread concern on Monday over the recent killings of unarmed black men by law-enforcement against ethnic minorities as the states faced the UN's main human rights body for a review.

The Associated Press said that James Cadogan, a justice department official, told the council that a number of recent police brutality cases against unarmed black men proved that a need for reform was evident.

“We must rededicate ourselves to ensuring that our civil rights laws live up to their promise,” he said.

“The tragic deaths of Freddie Gray in Baltimore, Michael Brown in Missouri, Eric Garner in New York, Tamir Rice in Ohio, and Walter Scott in South Carolina have... challenged us to do better and to work harder for progress.”

A number of countries, including Malaysia and Mexico, encouraged the US to increase its effort to end racist and excessive force against its citizens. Mr Cadogan defended the US by stating that Washington officials will bring abusive police officers to justice.

“When federal, state, local or tribal officials wilfully use excessive force that violates the US Constitution or federal law, we have authority to prosecute them,” he said, sighting criminal charges brought against more than 400 law enforcement officials over the past six years.

Washington also faced criticism over its lack of effort to end the death penalty, close the Guantanamo Bay prison, as well as ending abusive Internet surveillance. This is the second review of the states’ human rights record, following the first back in 2010, when the country accepted 171 of 240 recommendations.

“As President [Barack] Obama has acknowledged, we crossed the line, we did not live up to our values, and we take responsibility for that,” Mary McLeod, a US legal advisor, said of the states’ highly controversial CIA torture report released last year.

“We have since taken steps to clarify that the legal prohibition on torture applies everywhere and in all circumstances, and to ensure that the United States never resorts to the use of those harsh interrogation techniques again."



Several countries voiced concern over the extent of US surveillance in the light of reports about the National Security Agency's activities unearthed by Edward Snowden, a former NSA employee. However, most of the 117 country representatives also criticised the country’s use of the death penalty.