Discriminatory law enforcement against ethnic minorities in some countries keep emerging: diplomat

GENEVA, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Though more than two years have passed since African American George Floyd died from police violence in law enforcement, discriminatory law enforcement against ethnic minorities by law enforcement departments and related violence and deaths in some countries keep emerging, a Chinese envoy told the UN rights body on Tuesday.

Speaking on behalf of a group of countries at the on-going 51st session of the UN Human Rights Council, Chen Xu, head of the Chinese Mission to UN in Geneva, said that law enforcement racism and violence are both matters of chronic, systemic and structural racism and social inequality in these countries, and the legacies of slavery and colonialism in their history.

Ethnic minorities and groups in these countries, he said, namely people of African descent, Asian descent and Muslim descent, have long been discriminated and marginalized with their rights violated and their safety under constant threat of violence.

He pointed out that since the outbreak of COVID-19, politicians in relevant countries have been spreading hate speech based on race and religion, exacerbating the difficult situation of relevant groups.

"We strongly call on relevant countries to face up to the serious problems of racism and racial discrimination in their own countries, take heed of miseries of ethnic minorities in their own countries, and comprehensively review and revise discriminatory institutions, laws, policies and measures, overhaul the law enforcement and justiciary bodies in particular, thoroughly investigate cases of violence to hold offenders accountable and compensate victims," he noted.