U.N. human rights experts have called for major reforms of the U.S. criminal justice system to combat systemic racism, citing testimonies that jailed Black women had been shackled during childbirth while male inmates were forced to work in "plantation-style" conditions.

In a report published on Thursday, three U.N.-appointed experts said they had found practices in U.S. prisons that amounted to “an affront to human dignity” in visits in April and May.

The U.S. diplomatic mission in Geneva declined to comment. The Federal Bureau of Prisons said it was committed to ensuring the safety and security of incarcerated individuals as well as employees and the public.

One such practice is restraining and shackling women prisoners during childbirth, the report said.

The experts “heard, first hand, unbearable direct testimonies of pregnant women shackled during labour, who due to the chaining, lost their babies”, it said. Asked to give details, a U.N. rights spokesperson referred to “several” cases and confirmed they all involved Black women.

  • birdcurtains@lemmy.world
    1·
    1 year ago

    You’re right, violent crime is typically goes under reported in black communities. Secondly some state agencies only report crime to the national agencies at around 50%. Overall 67(ish)% of agencies across the states reported. I’m also pretty sure its just resolved crimes/situations that are reportable.

    Its fucked. It should be ringing alarm bells in everyones head noticing the multiple times gap between black and non-black murder offenders is now higher then the gap between men and women offenders. Even if it is skewed, its still people being murdered in communities that need the most.