By EFE
Jul 25, 2023, 12:42 PM EDT
Community organizations launched a campaign to collect signatures to urge President Joe Biden to limit the use of force by law enforcement officials in the country to “necessary and proportionate” on immigration issues, among others.
The campaign urges the United States to adhere to international standards on the use of force, considering that there is a “surge of human rights violations, particularly of communities of color, immigrants, and members of the homeless community” in the country.
Titled “Start with dignity,” the initiative seeks to gather signatures to urge the Biden Administration to align itself with international human rights standards derived from treaties signed and ratified by the United States.
“That starts with changing the standard for the use of force to ‘necessary and proportionate’ to save lives,” the Alliance San Diego, which is spearheading the initiative, said in a statement.
The organization reported that each year more than one million people are threatened or subjected to the use of force by law enforcement in the United States. “As a result, more than 250,000 are injured and more than 1,000 die,” he added.
“In border communities, the threat of violence is even greater,” said Lilian Serrano, director of the Southern Border Communities Coalition, which is part of the initiative.
He stressed that since they began monitoring in 2010, more than 270 people have died in encounters with border agents, including citizens, residents, migrants and travelers.
The alliance said the US standard allows law enforcement to use force that an officer believes is “reasonable,” rather than limiting it to force that is “necessary and proportionate,” which is the international standard.
The text alluded to the death of the Mexican Anastasio Hernández Rojas that occurred in 2010, allegedly caused by the excessive force used by agents of the United States Border Patrol, among other incidents.
The petition signed through the “Startwithdignity” website will be delivered to the Biden Administration and congressmen in December.
“Dignity is the goal of a democracy, but people cannot live with dignity if they cannot trust law enforcement to protect their human rights,” said Andrea Guerrero, executive director of Alliance San Diego.
He added that “the United States cannot present itself as a leader in human rights when it does not protect these same rights at home.”
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