CAITLIN CALLAHAN

On December 7th, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights co-organized a Thematic Hearing on impunity for police killings within the United States before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. A recording of the full hearing can be found here.

The testimony provided by family members and activists focused on the barriers families face in seeking justice for unlawful police killings of their loved ones. We called on the United States to institute more transparent investigations, prompt and independent legal action, and stronger oversight by the U.S. Department of Justice to more effectively hold police accountable.

Speakers included:

• Shaun King (via recorded video), writer and civil rights activist
• Maria Hamilton, mother of Dontre Hamilton (killed by police in Milwaukee) and founder of Mothers for Justice United (read her powerful blog post here)
• Luis Poot Pat, cousin of Luis Góngora Pat (killed by police in San Francisco)
• Adriana Camarena, civil rights activist
• Jennifer Turner, ACLU Human Rights Program
• Professor Justin Hansford, Executive Director of the Thurgood Marshall Center for Civil Rights at Howard University School of Law
• Representatives from the United States Department of State

Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, in collaboration with the other co-organizers, the ACLU and Santa Clara University School of Law’s International Human Rights Clinic, as well as the The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, submitted written testimony. Our written testimony outlines the deficiencies of existing legal remedies for police misconduct, which amount to violations of victims’ and their families’ human rights. Read more here.

Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights continues to work to hold the United States accountable to its human rights obligations, particularly with relation to its criminal justice system. Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights also co-sponsored a hearing on Excessive Use of Force by the Police against Black Americans in the United States in 2015. Find our written submission and video of the 2015 hearing here.