By: DaQuan Lawrence
AFRO International Writer
10 years since the shooting death of Michael Brown, a teenager shot by former police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Mo.
The death sent shockwaves through the community, with protests sparking all around the country in 2014.
Last month, on July 10, the Brown family appeared before the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights (IACHR) for a first-of-its-kind international law hearing on Brown’s case. The virtual hearing featured testimony from Brown’s mother, Lesley McSpadden, as well as attorneys and activists from the Thurgood Marshall Civil Rights Center at Howard University and Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights.
The hearing was conducted virtually, open to the public and provided one last opportunity for public accountability in Brown’s killing, as the Inter-American Commission heard an individual case about police violence in the United States for the first time in history.
“The last decade has proven that our domestic legal structures are insufficient and outdated compared to international human rights standards,” Wade McMullen, SVP of programs and legal strategy at RFK Human Rights, said.
“After exhausting every U.S. mechanism for justice, the Brown family is now looking to the IACHR for accountability in the death of their loved one,” McMullen said.
Representing McSpadden, RFK Human Rights and Howard University have requested that the IACHR recommend an independent investigation into Brown’s death and a public apology to Brown’s family. Advocates also called for the implementation of key U.S. legislation such as the BREATHE Act and the recently reintroduced Helping Families Heal Act, which would expand mental health services for communities harmed by police violence.
The IACHR is a major and autonomous organ of the Organization of American States (OAS) whose mission is to promote and protect human rights in the American hemisphere. Created by the OAS in 1959, the Commission is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and composed of seven independent members who serve in a personal capacity.
The hearing marked a vital milestone in an arduous legal journey that began in 2015 when Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights and the Thurgood Marshall Civil Rights Center first petitioned the IACHR to review Michael’s case. In 2022, the IACHR determined that the petition raised claims that the U.S.’ failure to hold the officers accountable violated rights guaranteed under the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man.
“August 9 will be 10 years since Mike Brown was killed, and it’s a chance for us to reflect on what’s happened since then,” Howard University law professor Justin Hansford, told the AFRO.
“I am really honored to still be fighting alongside Mike Brown’s mother. It’s important to recognize that the impacted families’ lives don’t stop when cases leave the headlines. They still deal with things every day,” Hansford said.
Mike Brown joined a growing list of Black and brown people who were unlawfully killed by U.S. law enforcement or members of non-minority communities in the 2010s and early 2020s, from 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in 2012 to George Floyd in 2020. Before the formal advent of the Black Lives Matter movement, members of the Ferguson community endured tumultuous conditions seeking justice for Mike Brown.
“The people in Ferguson inspired me the most because they were out there before it was trendy,” Hansford said. “Many protestors were not from privileged backgrounds or lost their jobs, as some people worked at local convenience stores or Walmart.”
Hansford was involved in the fallout of the protests in Ferguson and was one of the legal advocates who initially tried to take Brown’s case to an international stage. Hansford highlighted the unwavering spirit of protestors and mentioned that he was deeply moved by the community’s support prior to the commercialization of the Black Lives Matter hashtags and aid from allies.
“Before protesting was something mainstream, it was considered completely unsafe. protests were really some of the most authentic moments in American history,” Hansford said.
The July hearing was a breakthrough for issues of police brutality and human rights in America, as legal advocates involved in Mike Brown’s case made arguments pertaining to human rights within the field of international law. Hansford emphasized how the hearing at the IACHR is distinct from previous legal proceedings.
Historically known as a field that concerns the legal relationships between sovereign states, modern definitions of international law define the subject matter as the legal relationships that exists not simply between states, but also between and among international organizations, individuals, groups, multinational corporations and other entities that are considered capable of possessing the characteristics of legal personality.
“It’s a new framing and a new and better venue. I have always said that human rights law is better than American constitutional law or civil rights law, because human rights law is agreed upon by people all over the world,” Hansford explained.
Traditionally, the way states treat their citizens has been considered a subject of that state’s domestic law alone. Within contemporary international law, scholars and practitioners maintain that every state is subject to a body of law – broadly defined as human rights. The domain of human rights is inexplicably linked to rights that may be deemed cultural, political, economic and social.
According to Amnesty International, human rights issues are often vast and consist of many grey areas regarding public policy, allowing insidious violations to occur due to the implications and applications of international law.
The increase in police-civilian conflict has led to suggestions within international law as academics, legal professionals, students, activists and members of the international community alike seek options that hold perpetrators accountable.
“Michael’s case is emblematic of widespread police violence against Black people in the U.S.,” Delia Addo-Yobo, staff attorney at RFK Human Rights, said.
Black people are almost three-times more likely to be killed by police than white people in the U.S. according to Mapping Police Violence, an organization that tracks information about police killings due to the lack of comprehensive data provided by law enforcement agencies.
Often cited as “police brutality”, police violence has a long history within the U.S., which stems back to the American slavery period and continued throughout the Jim Crow era and the development of social organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan.
“More people were killed by police last year than any other year on record. By taking on Michael’s case, the IACHR is facilitating new pathways to justice for those impacted by discriminatory and pervasive police violence,” Addo-Yobo explained.
According to the Law Enforcement Epidemiology Project based at the University of Illinois Chicago, more than 600 people are killed by law enforcement in the U.S. annually. Based on data collected by Mapping Police Violence, police officers have killed 793 people in the U.S. this year as of Aug.9..
Police-citizen confrontations in Minneapolis, Minn., Baltimore, Ferguson, Mo., and Staten Island, N.Y., have been the subject of international attention, and the issue of police violence has moved public opinion regarding police-citizen confrontations and incidents where citizens have their human rights violated.
Kristen Clarke, assistant attorney general for civil rights at the Justice Department, attended the July 10 hearing and defended the department’s decision not to seek charges.
“Federal authorities reviewed physical ballistic evidence, forensic and crime scene evidence, medical reports and autopsy reports, officer Wilson’s personnel records, audio and video recordings, internet postings and the transcripts from the proceedings before the St. Louis County grand jury,” Clarke said.
Clarke mentioned that although federal prosecutors and agents interviewed dozens of witnesses, and FBI agents canvassed more than 300 homes to find and interview additional witnesses, ultimately the evidence didn’t prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Wilson violated the statutes needed to charge him.
“I understand that this 2015 conclusion gravely disappointed Mr. Brown’s parents and family and many in the community,” Clarke said. “I ask that the commission and any interested parties read the full report, which shows the thoroughness of the department’s criminal investigation into Mr. Brown’s death.”
A recent study from the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions and Vanderbilt University found that from 2015 to 2020, an average of 1,769 people were injured annually in police shootings, 55 percent of them or 979 people, fatally.
Hansford elevated the concerns of legal experts seeking justice for Mike Brown and emphasized the trustworthiness of state officials involved.
“They tried to say Darren Wilson was acting in self-defense, yet a prosecutor was already proven to be biased. We have 10 years to reflect on the crazy way they prosecuted that case and the IACHR is saying Mike Brown’s human rights were violated— not just his civil rights,” Hansford said.
The U.S. is often revered as a nation of unprecedented freedoms, a land of opportunity, and sometimes regarded as an international leader on human rights issues. Recent events targeting American minorities – who are largely disenfranchised – and unrest that followed their killings in U.S. cities, has attracted due attention and criticism.
“I think reparations is what justice looks like in the 21st Century, and the government that caused trauma and heartbreak should be responsible for healing. We’re calling on them to provide an apology, financial reparations, and mental health support for any family that is victimized by police violence,” Hansford told the AFRO.
Following the July hearing, the IACHR will publish a report outlining their findings on the case and issuing recommendations to the United States government. A full list of proposed remedies can be found here.
