The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, spoke on Monday July 12 in favor of "
restorative justice
" in the thorny debate on the aftermath of slavery and colonialism.
Read also: The UN urges France to use ethnic statistics to fight against "systemic racism"
“
Behind today's systemic racism and racial violence lies the lack of formal recognition of the responsibilities of states and other actors who participated in or profited from slavery, the African transatlantic slave trade and colonialism. - as well as those who continue to benefit from this heritage
”, declared Michelle Bachelet before the Human Rights Council (HRC).
“
Communities, families and individuals have been deprived of their lives, livelihoods, resources and rights, and this situation continues,
” she added.
A report on police violence
Michelle Bachelet spoke during the presentation of her report on police violence against people of African descent, published on June 28.
During the publication of this document, which came a few days after the conviction in the United States of the police officer who killed George Floyd, the High Commissioner called on States to take "
immediate measures
" against the systemic racism of which blacks are victims. .
She denounced Monday "
the repression of demonstrations against racism in certain countries
", which "
must be taken into account in a larger context in which the voices of people of African descent and of people fighting against racism are suppressed, and in which human rights defenders of African descent face reprisals, including harassment, threats, criminal prosecution, violence and assassinations
”.
"Urgent to seek restorative justice"
"
In the face of these deep and far-reaching injustices, there is an urgent need to address the legacy of slavery, the transatlantic slave trade, colonialism and successive policies and systems of racial discrimination, and to seek restorative justice.
», Said Commissioner Bachelet.
"
To heal our societies and bring justice to terrible crimes, it is essential to establish the truth about these legacies and their impact today, and to take action to address these harms through a wide range of remedies.
" , she concluded.
A question that is debated
His appeal comes when in the United States the question of "
critical race theory
" is debated.
This term defines a line of thought born in American law schools in the late 1970s to analyze racism as a system, with its laws and its logics of power, rather than linked to individual prejudices.
But it has recently become a catch-all phrase for its Republican detractors, denoting all efforts to address, in schools and institutions, dark episodes in American history, including slavery and segregation.