4th Annual Session of the International Independent Expert Mechanism to Ad

In its first report to the Human Rights Council, the Expert Mechanism stated that “[i]nteractions with law enforcement officials and the criminal justice system are understood as encompassing notably, but not exclusively, stop-and search, arrest, determinations regarding pretrial preventive detention and denial of bail, access to justice, investigations, prosecutions, sentencing and deprivation of liberty.

The Expert Mechanism has stressed that “systemic racism often manifests itself in pervasive racial stereotypes, prejudice and bias and is frequently rooted in histories and legacies of enslavement, the transatlantic trade in enslaved Africans and colonialism.” This creates prejudice in different sectors of society, including the harmful association of Africans and people of African descent with criminality and delinquency. Such bias, associations and stereotypes have a direct impact on their interactions with the criminal justice system, which are often discriminatory or lead to disproportionate outcomes due to systemic racism.

The Expert Mechanism has also stated that racial biases and structural discrimination emanating from systemic racism can exist in all the phases of the criminal justice system. It has identified discriminatory interactions in relation to the application of bail and parole, the overuse of pretrial detention, interrogation practices, jury selection, excessive sentencing (including sentences beyond life expectancy and death sentences), over-incarceration, wrongful convictions, as well as discriminatory disciplinary sanctions in correctional facilities, such as solitary confinement, discriminatory ill-treatment and excessive use of force in detention, among others. In some countries, this leads to a general overrepresentation of Africans and people of African descent, including children, in detention and in criminal supervision such as probation or parole. Other issues such as the lack of prompt access to a lawyer and contact with family or other person of choice upon arrest, forced prison labour and restrictions to voting rights have also been identified, as well as specific impacts for people having mental health crises or people with mental health conditions or psychosocial disabilities, children, women, migrants and asylum seekers, and LGBTIQ+ persons, among others. The Expert Mechanism has also stated that drug control policies have a disproportionately harmful impact on Africans and
people of African descent.

In examining how systemic racism affects Africans and people of African descent in the criminal justice system, speakers and participants are invited to discuss obstacles, challenges, lessons learnt and promising initiatives at different stages of the criminal justice proceedings, including before, during and after a trial. They will also explore how race and other intersecting factors contribute to discrimination against, and disproportionate outcomes for, Africans and people of African descent in the criminal justice system as well as the correlation between racial discrimination and the overrepresentation of Africans and people of African descent in detention.