US Police Killings Violate International Law

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Glen Ford: Amnesty International finds all 50 states and Washington, DC, fail to comply with international law and standards on the use of lethal force by law enforcement officers

- June 23, 2015

Bio

Glen Ford is a distinguished radio-show host and commentator. In 1977, Ford co-launched, produced and hosted America's Black Forum, the first nationally syndicated Black news interview program on commercial television. In 1987, Ford launched Rap It Up, the first nationally syndicated Hip Hop music show, broadcast on 65 radio stations. Ford co-founded the Black Commentator in 2002 and in 2006 he launched the Black Agenda Report. Ford is also the author of The Big Lie: An Analysis of U.S. Media Coverage of the Grenada Invasion.

Transcript

US Police Killings Violate International LawSHARMINI PERIES, EXEC. PRODUCER, TRNN: This is the Glen Ford report on The Real News Network. I'm Sharmini Peries coming to you from Baltimore.

Hundreds of men and women are killed by the police each year across the United States. No one knows exactly how many because the United States does not keep such stats, we are told. The series of lethal attacks we have seen on African-Americans by police, such as Freddie Gray in Baltimore, Walter Scott in North Charleston, South Carolina, or Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, these recent attacks have prompted Amnesty International to issue a report that says 50 states and Washington, DC fail to comply with international law and standards on the use of lethal force by law enforcement officers.

Here to discuss the report is Glen Ford. Glen is the executive editor of the Black Agenda Report. Glen, thank you for joining us today.

GLEN FORD, EXEC. EDITOR, BLACK AGENDA REPORT: Thank you for the opportunity.

PERIES: Glen, give us a take on the report.

FORD: Well, I think the Amnesty report goes beyond showing that the crimes committed against people of all colors in the United States, not rooted in a few bad apples in the barrel. The situation is such that most American states, none of them actually, as you mentioned, measure up to the standards of international law. But a huge number of them don't even measure up to U.S. Constitutional standards or have no laws at all covering various contingencies in which the police might use their weapons.

And I think it's best to point out right up front that when we speak of international law we're not talking about something that is elective. It's not a suggestion from people around the world. We're talking about international laws that the U.S. has signed by treaty, and therefore have the force of U.S. law. International law says that in terms of police use of deadly force, that lethal force should only be used to protect the life of the police officer or others if it is in imminent danger, and that lethal force must always be absolutely a last resort.

But of course, no state in the United States lives up to that standard. In fact, nine states have no laws at all regarding lethal use of force by police. Nine other states allow lethal force to put down a riot, which means that all that a state has to do is declare that it's in the midst of a riotous situation, and the Constitution goes right out the window. There are 22 states that allow guards to kill prison inmates if the inmates are trying to escape, which means that in those 22 states inmates have no protection under the law. They have in fact no right to life under the law in those states.

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