U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, Michael Lynk, has called for the European Union to punish any moves by Israel to annex parts of the occupied West Bank.

Lynk maintains that the EU must back up warnings against annexation with actionable countermeasures.  This includes possible economic, trade or other sanctions.

“We have reached a point where resolutions without resolve can no longer contribute to reaching the just and durable peace and human security that Palestinians and Israelis deserve”, he added.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has also warned against further annexation which would threaten any chance of peace with Palestinians, who seek a State which includes the territory of the West Bank.

 

EU response

This call sanctions were also made by over 1,000 European lawmakers who maintained that “commensurate consequences” were needed if Israel, which has more than 400,000 settlers in the West Bank, continued with annexing parts of the occupied West Bank. The EU has maintained that annexation must not go unchallenged.

Reuters has stated, however, that there is no clear EU strategy on how to stop Israel’s plan or how to respond in a meaningful way if annexation goes ahead.

 

Trump’s Middle East plan

Israel’s move to possible annexation stems from US President Donald Trump’s Middle East plan which aims to grant Jerusalem to Israel as well as recognising Israeli sovereignty over Palestinian territory in the occupied West Bank.

Read more from Reuters and our previous reporting here.

<p>Freedom from Torture has released a report highlighting the failure of the UK Home Office is dealing with asylum seekers and torture survivors, leaving often without adequate representation and unable to give the full details of their case during interviews.</p> <p>The report they compiled was based on 30 separate cases from torture survivors interviewed from 2017-2018, in addition to a further 25 torture survivors interviewed between 2017-2019. The report illustrates that many asylum seekers “are disbelieved and dismissed by the very system set up to help them”.</p> <p>Freedom for Torture reminds us that these individuals are incredibly vulnerable and “were tortured for their sexuality, speaking out against corruption, or simply being of&nbsp;a different ethnicity.” During interviews, Home Officials created an intimidating atmosphere which left some torture survivors “feeling dehumanised, re-traumatised and despairing of getting a fair decision".</p> <p>A central African refugee described his interview as an interrogation. He was interviewed for four hours and asked 300 questions without being offered water. Despite the pressing threat he faced in his home country, he was denied asylum.</p> <p>The report’s findings show that caseworkers failed to follow principles set out specifically to aid claimants in the best way possible, they failed to maintain a sensitive and professional environment.</p> <p>The report maintains the importance of considering all the evidence, stating:</p> <blockquote><p> "Given the critical function of the evidence gathered at interview, it is essential that caseworkers are able to conduct effective interviews, including by obtaining relevant information, recognising factors that are likely to affect the claimant in giving their evidence, and seeking further evidence if required. A failure in any of these respects raises the risk that the Home Office will not have the information they need to make a sustainable decision on protection needs." </p></blockquote> <p>According to the report, individual experiences and vulnerabilities were not acknowledged by the caseworkers. The report maintains that these cases illustrate deep-rooted negligence of the home office.</p> <p>One individual interviewed, attempted to tell their caseworker about the threats they received from their government but when attempting to recount a story from her youth, she was told this was irrelevant. The caseworker insisted that anything which happened prior to her specific claim was irrelevant and that she did not wish to hear it.</p> <p>Another survivor commented on the Home Office conduct stating:</p> <blockquote><p> "They [Home Office caseworkers] do so much work, but I think the system has been broken from inside for a long time and they cannot really…rebuild it again" </p></blockquote> <p>Freedom from torture outlines ways in which the home office can reform to effectively support asylum seekers. This includes providing higher quality “experiential” training; amending current asylum policy to allow caseworkers to consider all evidence; and changing the culture in the Home Office to allow learn from these failures.</p> <p>Read the full Freedom from Torture report <a href="https://beyondbelief.freedomfromtorture.org/report/?utm_campaign=beyond…">here.</a></p>

UK Shadow Education Secretary, Rebecca Long-Bailey has been sacked from her post in the shadow cabinet after sharing an interview of actress, Maxine Peake, which claimed that American police learnt to knell on people’s neck from Israeli secret services.

Labour leader, Keir Starmer, has defended the sacking of Long-Bailey by claiming that this claim was part of anti-semitic conspiracy theory.

In a statement he said:

“The sharing of that article was wrong… because the article contained anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and I have therefore stood Rebecca Long-Bailey down from the shadow cabinet […] I’ve made it my first priority to tackle anti-Semitism and rebuilding trust with the Jewish community is a number one priority for me”.

Responding to Starmer's decision, she maintains that she did not endorse all aspects of the interview and was not given the opportunity to speak to Starmer before the decision was made.

She states:

“I wished to acknowledge these concerns and duly issued a clarification of my retweet, with the wording agreed in advance by the Labour Party leader’s office, but after posting I was subsequently instructed to take both this agreed clarification and my original retweet down.

“I could not do this in good conscience without the issuing of a press statement of clarification. I had asked to discuss these matters with Keir before agreeing what further action to take, but sadly he had already made his decision.”

Israel’s training of the US police

Peake’s claim may be traced back to a blog on Amnesty International USA’s blog which was published on 25 August 2016. The blog highlighted that Baltimore’s police department, alongside hundreds of other US police departments, which have been accused of constitutional violations and discrimination, have received training in Israel.

These trips, the blog states, were funded by taxpayers whilst others were privately funded. The blog further highlights that several human rights organisations, including the US State Department, have identified Israel’s police as having carried out extrajudicial executions, suppressed free speech, and used excessive force against peaceful protesters.

Israeli security forces deny training US police to conduct tactics such as neck-kneeling, this was not included in the original article  Long-Bailey shared.

Those defending Starmer’s decision maintain that the death of George Floyd is unrelated to Israel’s training and attempts to conflate the two incidents obfuscates US police of their guilt. It further perpetuates the anti-Semitic trope that Israel is to blame for the world’s ills.

British journalist, Owen Jones, has stated on the matter;

"US systemic racism is a homegrown enterprise. The murder of George Floyd should squarely be blamed on that. The exchange in training between US, Israel or other countries is real but separate".

Divisions in the Labour party

This statement has divided Labour’s political base with members such as Margret Hodge supporting this decision but others criticising the decision.

Hodge tweeted in response to the decision:

“This is what a change in culture looks like. This is what zero tolerance looks like. This is what rebuilding trust with the Jewish community looks like”.

However, Long-Bailey has been defended by Labour’s former Shadow Chancellor of Exchequer, John McDonnell, who claimed maintained: 

“Throughout discussion of antisemitism it’s always been said criticism of practices of Israeli state is not antisemitic. I don’t believe therefore that this article is or @RLong_Bailey should’ve been sacked. I stand in solidarity with her”

Jon Lansman, a founding member of Momentum, similarly stated that he did not believe there was anything “antisemitic in the interview”. He described Starmer’s decision as a “reckless overreaction”.

Read more from Labour List.

Read the Independent article she shared here. 

The brother of George Floyd, a Black man who was murdered by US police last month, has appealed to the UN Human Rights Council during their debate regarding investigations into US police brutality and systemic racism, calling for an independent Commission of Inquiry to be established.

Floyd repeated the story that sparked worldwide protests: his brother was tortured and murdered by four Minneapolis police officers. He went on to connect his brother’s story to those of countless other Black Americans who have been murdered at the hands of police officers.

“The way you saw my brother tortured and murdered on camera is the way Black people are treated by police in America,” Floyd said. “I am asking you to help me,” he added. “I am asking you to help us — Black people in America.”

“I hope that you will consider establishing an independent commission of inquiry to investigate police killings of Black people in America and the violence used against peaceful protestors.”

UN Human Rights chief Michelle Bachelet said that George Floyd's murder - which she called an act of "gratuitous brutality" - has come to "symbolise the systemic racism that harms millions of people of African descent – causing pervasive, daily, life-long, generational and too often, lethal harm".

"Today's protests are the culmination of many generations of pain, and long struggles for equality," she added. "Too little has changed, over too many years. We owe it to those who have gone before, as well as those to come, to seize the moment – at long last – to demand fundamental change and insist upon it."

Bachelet also said there were "fundamental questions about whether we need to reconstruct from the ground up, rather than just reform in piecemeal fashion, the approaches to policing in our societies". 

See her full statement here.

The United States withdrew from the UN Human Rights Council in 2018, with Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley calling it a “hypocritical and self-serving organization that makes a mockery of human rights”.

Floyd’s appeal to the UN on behalf of Black people is part of a long history, starting with W.E.B. DuBois’s statement to the UN “on the Denial of Human Rights to Minorities in the Case of Citizens of Negro Descent in the United States of America” in 1947.

The UN’s recommendations have thus far pointed to reforms from the 2015 President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing that include limits on use of police force and training around racial bias. This differs from growing efforts to defund and ultimately abolish police departments and their supporting structures.

 

<p>20 Indian soldiers have been killed in a border dispute between China and India in the Himalayan region.</p> <p>This violent clash follows escalating tensions between the two countries and has resulted in the first loss of life in the border region since 1975 and the worst military crisis between the countries in almost 60 years.</p> <p>Responding to the escalating violence, India’s army has reported that:</p> <p>“senior military officials of the two sides are currently meeting at the venue to defuse the situation” and that they were “firmly committed to protecting the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the nation.”</p> <p>According to the Guardian, violence broke out after an Indian patrol “unexpectedly encountered Chinese forces on a narrow ridge while on a patrol”. The commanding officer was pushed into a river gorge, which in turn led to reinforcements being called and up to 600 troops from both countries fighting hand-to-hand. These soldiers used stones and iron rods as they did not carry guns.</p> <p>Tensions between India and China have escalated since late April after Chinese troops marched into disputed territory along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). These troops established camps and brought in weaponry and vehicles, catching Indian forces off-guard. Chinese troops ignored repeated warnings to withdraw however on 6 June, India and China reached a mutual agreement to disengage.</p> <p>Despite this, Chinese troops have still not fully withdrawn from areas of the disputed territory such as the Galwan Valley</p> <p>Both sides have accused each other of breaching the control line and launching provocative attacks.</p> <p>Zhang Shuli, the Chinese army’s commander in the western theatre, has released a statement which states:</p> <blockquote><p> “We call on the Indian side to restrict its frontline soldiers, immediately stop all infringement of rights and provocative actions against China and return to using dialogue to resolve disputes,” </p></blockquote> <p>Read more from <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/16/india-says-soldiers-kille…">the Guardian</a>.</p>

Three former UK prime ministers have criticised the current’s British prime minister’s plan to merge the Department of International Development (DfID) with the Foreign Office into what he describes as a “super-department”.

Former Prime Ministers David Cameron, Gordon Brown and Tony Blair have condemned the proposed merger, with Cameron stating that this would lead to “less respect for the UK overseas”. Similarly, Gordon Brown has described the decision as sad whilst Tony Blair stated that he was “utterly dismayed”.

Current Labour leader, Kier Starmer, also voiced criticism of the move describing it as a “distraction” from the coronavirus pandemic and the rising unemployment in the UK.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has defended his decision stating;

“For too long, frankly, UK overseas aid has been treated like a giant cashpoint in the sky, that arrives without any reference to UK interests”.

Johnson maintains that the government will continue its spending of 0.7% of gross national income on overseas aid and there are no redundancies expected although the new department will only have one permanent secretary. The Guardian states that the union of these two departments will require “greater linkage between the UK’s aid, security and commercial interests”.

Johnson’s defended his decision stating:

“DfID outspends the Foreign Office more than four times over and yet no single decision-maker in either department is able to unite our efforts or take a comprehensive overview […] We give as much aid to Zambia as we do to Ukraine, though the latter is vital for European security. We give 10 times as much aid to Tanzania as we do to the six countries of the western Balkans, who are acutely vulnerable to Russian meddling.”

The new department is expected to be formed in autumn of this year and there is an expect curb of the department’s budget as the country continues to recover from the impact of the coronavirus. DfID has held a larger budget than the Foreign Office, being granted £15.2 billion in 2019.

However, the Foreign Office has developed greater control over Britain’s aid budget. As the Guardian notes in 2019 the Foreign Office spent £680m of the overseas aid budget – more than double the £300m it spent in 2013. This is 40% of the FCO’s core departmental allocation of £1.7bn in 2018–19.

Read more from the Guardian.

US President, Donald Trump, has issued an executive order authorising sanctions against International Criminal Court (ICC) employees involved in investigating whether US forces, intelligence agents, or allied countries such as Israel, committed war crimes during the conflict in Afghanistan. 

This executive order, signed in on Thursday would deny visas and block funds and assets for ICC employees and their immediate family members. These sanctions follow repeated threats from the Trump administration which aim to block ICC investigations into war crimes committed in Afghanistan and Palestine committed by the US and Israel.

Human Rights Watch, notes that the US has backed paramilitary groups in Afghanistan which are responsible for serious abuses including war crimes. These paramilitaries have disproportionately killed Afghan civilians.

The United Nations and the American Civil Liberties Union has condemned this executive order, stating it was “a dangerous display of his contempt for human rights and those working to uphold them”. Similarly, EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said that the President’s decision is a “matter of serious concern”. 

"The ICC is a key factor in bringing justice and peace, it must be respected and supported by all nations and we’ll analyse the decision in order to assess its full implications", Borrell added.

In defending the executive order, a White House press secretary stressed that the US was not a member of the ICC and, “has repeatedly rejected the ICC’s assertions of jurisdiction over United States personnel.”

US Secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, has denounced the tribunal as a "kangaroo court" that has been unsuccessful and inefficient in its mandate to prosecute war crimes. He added that “we cannot allow ICC officials and their families to come to the United States to shop and travel and otherwise enjoy American freedoms as these same officials seek to prosecute the defender of those very freedoms."

Pompeo’s views were echoed by Attorney General William Barr who claimed there was corruption within the ICC hierarchy that he said raised suspicions that Russia and other adversaries could be interfering in the investigatory process. Barr warned that these sanctions were merely the beginning of a ‘sustained campaign’ by the US in holding the ICC accountable for exceeding its jurisdictional powers and violating their national sovereignty.

Read more from the US State Department and Al Jazeera.

Read the full executive order here.

The UK Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) will investigate the UK “hostile environment” immigration policy, which led to the wrongful detention of 83 people and harassment of thousands, as part of their drive to end “systemic and entrenched race inequalities that exist in our country”.

The hostile environment is the name given to a set of immigration policies which were first announced in 2012 and were enacted under the direction of Theresa May, who was then the Home Secretary.

These policies aimed to make life for "illegal immigrants" increasingly difficult by forcing landlords, the NHS, charities, community interest companies and banks to carry out ID checks. These checks imposed significant barriers to "illegal migrants" who had difficulty accessing health care, shelter and reporting crime, as well as to thousands who had come to the UK legally.

Approximately half a million Caribbean migrants came to Britain after the end of the Second World War legally under the 1948 British Nationality Act. However, many of these migrants and their children were not provided documentation to prove their legal residence. This led to thousands being classed as illegal migrants, being denied healthcare, sacked from their jobs, and some were detained and deported.

According to the independent review, the Wendy Williams Lessons Learned review, the Home Office demonstrated “institutional ignorance and thoughtlessness towards the issue of race”.  The publication of this report in March prompted an apology from the current UK Home Secretary Priti Patel.

An alliance of 16 anti-racism groups called on the EHRC to launch an investigation into the Home Office’s conduct following the publication of the Wendy Williams Lessons.

The Home Office has responded to the report and the EHRC stating:

“We are carefully considering the findings of the Windrush Lessons Learned review and will respond shortly to those important recommendations. We will also work with the EHRC on the review they have launched.”

David Isaac, chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, has said on this issue:

“The Windrush scandal and hostile environment policies have cast a shadow across the UK and its values. We are working with the Home Office to determine what must change so that this shameful period of our history is not repeated”.

Read more from The Guardian.

A French court ruling later this month may allow the opening of the archives of former French President François Mitterand and shed light on the government’s role in the Rwandan genocide, reports Euronews.

The public rapporteur of France's Council of State has ruled in favour of researcher François Graner, from the NGO Survie (Survival), which has been calling for the opening of the archives of the former French president.

"What we want is to understand what the political decision-makers of the time knew, François Mitterand and his advisors, what information they had when they made the decisions that have since been criticized, and that involve France during, before and after the genocide of the Tutsis in 1994," said Graner.

"What we have been able to establish from the documents we have is the complicity of the French government," he added.

"That is to say, knowledge of the cause, knowledge of what happened, active support, which had an effect on the crime. It doesn't mean genocidal intent. Simply, we saw an intention to keep Rwanda under French influence at all costs, and at all costs, that meant by supporting those carrying out the genocide."

See more from Euronews here.

Black Lives Matters protesters in Bristol, England, tore down a statue commemorating the life of slave trader Edward Colston.

The statue of Colston was erected in 1895 and has been a great source of controversy as whilst Colston has given a great deal of money to the city, he had earned this money through slavery.

From 1672 and 1689, Colston’s company kidnapped and sold over 100,000 slaves, transporting them from West Africa to the Caribbean and the Americas. Slaves, including women and children, were kept in horrific conditions often suffering from dehydration, dysentery and scurvy which killed over 20,000 during the crossings. Slaves were branded on their chest with the company’s initials, RAC.

Responses to the monuments being taken down

The taking down of the monument has been met with a mixed response.

In Bristol, there has been a long campaign to take down the statue and monuments commemorating the slave trader. In 2017, Colston Hall, the city’s largest concert hall, announced that it would change its name and in 2018, Bristol’s city council announced that a second plague would be placed next to the statue explaining Colston’s role in slavery. In 2018 a portrait of the slave owner was removed from the mayor’s office. Recently, a petition for taking down the statue, gained over 11,000 signatures. The petition read:

“Whilst history shouldn’t be forgotten, these people who benefited from the enslavement of individuals do not deserve the honour of a statue. This should be reserved for those who bring about positive change and who fight for peace, equality and social unity.”

Commenting on the removal of the statue, Bristol’s mayor, Marvin Rees, stated:

“I know the removal of the Colston Statue will divide opinion, as the statue itself has done for many years. However, it’s important to listen to those who found the statue to represent an affront to humanity. Let’s make the legacy of today about the future of our city, tackling racism and inequality.”

Thangam Debbonaire, Bristol West MP and shadow housing secretary, called for the removal of the statue in 2018 stating, the city “should not be honouring people who benefited from slavery”.

However, the taking down of the statue has also provoked criticism. Britain’s home secretary, Priti Patel, has urged the police to take action and told Sky News;

“I think that is utterly disgraceful and that speaks to the acts of public disorder that have actually now become a distraction from the cause in which people are protesting about.”

Supt Andy Bennett, of Somerset and Avon police, said his force was carrying out an investigation into criminal damage.

 

Read more from the Guardian.

 

Responding to criticism from China over the police unlawful killing George Floyd, US Secretary of State, Michael R. Pompeo has lashed out describing the Chinese Communist Party’s criticism as “obscene” and “laughable propaganda”.

Pompeo’s statement stressed that the contrast between the US and China “could not be more stark” and goes on to list a litany of human rights abuses conducted in China.

This includes attacks on churches, imprisons journalist and forcing Uighurs into “re-education camps”.

Pompeo claimed that China has crushed the aspiration and freedom of the people of Hong Kong and Taiwan. In contrast, the US upholds “the rule of law, transparency, and unalienable human rights”.

However, China is not the only country to criticise the US, the UN has also condemned the killing of George Floyd as well as many other high-profile cases. They have described these killings as lynchings due to long history in the US of killing African Americans with impunity in public spaces to assert racial control. From 2013-2019, 99% of killings by police did not result in an officer being charged with a crime.

The UN has also condemned the attacks on journalists and peaceful protesters by America’s police and military. The US President has called for the deployment of the National Guard to put down protesters. They are presently deployed in 15 states.

The UN further contrasts the Black Lives Matters movements to predominately white protests in the US against the COVID-19 lockdown measures. The latter being treated with far more leniency.

Read the US State Department’s statement here and the UN statement here.

(Photo Credit: Lorie Shaull)

A group of UN rights experts have condemned America’s systemic racism and racial bias following what they term as the “lynching” of George Floyd and the outbreak of protests throughout America and across the world.

In a statement issued by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, they specify that the recent killing of African Americans by police officials has been done with impunity and involved “disregard or depravity toward human life” as well as “the use of public spaces to assert racial control” each characteristic of lynching.

A history of injustice

In detailing the historic injustice Black Americans have suffered, the UN specifies that:

“The origin story of policing in the United States of America starts with slave patrols and social control, where human property of enslavers was ‘protected’ with violence and impunity against people of African descent. In the US, this legacy of racial terror remains evident in modern-day policing,”

The UN experts statement maintains that despite 99 years passing since the massacre in Tulsa, “African Americans continue to experience racial terror in state-sponsored and privately organised violence”.

The Black community in America continue to suffer from poverty, state violence and disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 virus. The UN reminds us that those of African descent in America are disproportionately affected and have a lesser ability to quarantine. 

Police accountability

The UN warns that there is little hope of accountability for police brutality in America:

 “Given the track record of impunity for racial violence of this nature in the United States, Black people have good reason to fear for their lives”, the statement reads.

In 2019, 1098 people were killed by the police in the US. Close to a quarter of those killed were Black Americans despite only comprising 13% of the population. Blacks in America are three times more likely to be killed by the police than White Americans. From 2013-2019, 99% of killings by police did not result in an officer being charged with a crime.

Concerns over police violence

Specific concerns have been raised over the militarisation of American police as well as increasing reports of attacks on protesters and journalists. These attacks have been bolstered by statements from the US President which has called for the deployment of the national guardian to put down the protests. The national guardian is already in active deployment in 15 US states.

The threats of violence from the US President “stand in stark contrast to calls for leniency and understanding which the Government had issued in the wake of largely white protests against COVID-19 restrictions on services like barbershops, salons, and spas”, the UN experts state.

The UN further reports that police have engaged in the “tear-gassing of peaceful protesters not involved in unlawful behaviour”.

Recommendations

The UN concludes its statement by calling for the implementation of the 2015 recommendations of the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing. This specifies a need to respect basic human rights and confront racial bias.

They further specify that this will require;

The ending of “policies facilitating qualified immunity, provision of military equipment to, and military-type training of police, no-knock warrants and use of non-uniformed police in citizen interactions. Finally, civilian oversight boards, mandated body worn camera use, de-escalation training, and independent review of all extrajudicial police killings would enhance both transparency and accountability”.

Read more from the OHCHR or and Mapping Police Violence.

UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has vowed to enable 3 million Hong Kong residents to settle in the UK as the Chinese government introduce a draconian national security act which threatens pro-independence activists.

The announcement of this plan has been met with approval from both human rights organisations as well as senior Conservative party officials. There are discrepancies however in the government’s messaging with Britain’s foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, proposing to limit the plans to British oversea passport holders. This would limit the plan to 350,000.

This announcement follows a police crackdown on protesters who opposed the new national security law. The law is designed to stamp out “terrorism” and calls for independence.

Read more here: Hong Kong cracks down on protests against national security laws

This bill has increased fears that China will undermine Hong Kong’s autonomy which was guaranteed by the Sino-British Joint Declaration. This agreement between China and the British was made in 1984 and allowed Hong Kong a high degree of autonomy, under the formula known as “one country, two systems,” until 2049.

Writing in the Times, Johnson states;

 “If China proceeds to justify their fears, then Britain could not in good conscience shrug our shoulders and walk away; instead we will honour our obligations and provide an alternative.”

British Conservative MP Tom Tugendhat, who is chairman of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, has stated on China;

 “They are about the undermining of the rule of law around the world and its replacement with the rule of force.”

Read more from the Times and the New York Times.

UK Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Emily Thornberry, has called for a suspension of sales of riot control equipment to the US following police crackdowns on Black Lives Matters protesters.

In a letter addressed to the Secretary of State for International Trade, Liz Truss, Thornberry stressed:

“We cannot be a party to the violence of the American President against his own people”.

In her letter, she further stated, “our historic alliance with the United States is no reason to shirk that responsibility now”.

According to the UK Government’s Strategic Export Controls: Country Pivot Report, the UK has issued licences for the export of a variety of riot control projectiles and equipment to the United States, including anti-riot/ballistic shields, anti-riot guns, components for anti-riot guns, portable riot control electric shock devices, and tear gas/riot control agents.

Thornberry’s letter calls for an assessment and account of this equipment and how it is being used as well as a suspension of further sales.

This letter follows threats from the US President that he will be deployed to the military to quell dissent. Thornberry notes that there has already been excessive violence against protesters including against journalists and children.

In her statement, Thornberry further said;

“These protests are calling for the basic human rights of Black people to be respected, for them to go about their daily lives without the threat of police violence, and for all of us to take action to dismantle the structural and institutional practices which entrench racism in our societies”.