U.S. hears U.N. concerns over excessive police force

Jane Onyanga-Omara | USA TODAY

The United Nations Human Rights Council expressed concern Monday over the excessive use of force by police officers in the United States against minorities.

The group made its comments in the context of an annual review.

The U.S. also faced calls to work toward abolishing the death penalty, closing Guantanamo Bay and to ensure safeguards against abuses of Internet surveillance, the Associated Press reported.

It is the second review of the U.S.'s human rights record — the first was in 2010, when the country accepted 171 recommendations out of 240.

Human Rights Watch says the U.S. has "largely failed" to follow through on the 2010 recommendations. These included increasing efforts to eliminate the use of excessive force by law enforcement officials against minorities, and to study racial disparities in the imposition of the death penalty.

"The U.S. has been strong on process and short on substance," Antonio Ginatta, U.S. advocacy director at Human Rights Watch said in a statement, ahead of the latest review.

"The U.S. has little progress to show for the many commitments it made (previously)," he said.

Countries including Malaysia and Mexico called on the U.S. to boost efforts to prevent the use of excessive police force. There is no exact definition of excessive force, but the term can be used to describe force greater than what a reasonable officer would use under the circumstances.

In recent high-profile cases, black people such as Michael Brown of Ferguson, Mo., Eric Garner of Staten Island in New York, and Freddie Gray, of Baltimore, died in incidents involving police officers. Their deaths sparked protests and urgent calls for police to be more accountable for their actions.

"We must rededicate ourselves to ensuring that our civil-rights laws live up to our promise," U.S. Justice Department official James Cadogan said Monday in Geneva, addressing the review.

"These events challenge us to do better and to work harder for progress through both dialogue and action," he said.

Cadogan said the government can prosecute officials who "wilfully use excessive force," and that criminal charges have been brought against more than 400 law enforcement officials in the last six years, the AP reported.

The news agency said that countries including Brazil and Kenya expressed concern over the extent of U.S. surveillance. A federal appeals court last week ruled that the National Security Agency's program to collect data on phone calls is illegal.

David Bitkower, a deputy assistant attorney general with the U.S. Department of Justice, said that "U.S. intelligence collection programs and activities are subject to stringent and multilayered oversight mechanisms."

He said the U.S. does not collect intelligence to suppress dissent or to give businesses an advantage, and said there is "extensive and effective oversight to prevent abuse," according to the AP.