The European Parliament adopted a resolution to declare “Black Lives Matter” on Friday to denounce white supremacy and racism. However, the resolution has no legal ramifications but sends a signal of solidarity to anti-racism protests in the US and other parts of the world.
During a plenary session this week, Miriam Dalli, an EU parliamentarian, said that “We have to make sure that in all our societies, all citizens are free”. In recent weeks, the anti-racism protests have spread across Europe after the killing of an African American, George Floyd, in Minneapolis police custody.
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The resolution strongly condemned the brutal killing of Floyd in police custody and was passed by 493 votes to 104. Renew Europe, the EU parliamentary group, also voted in favor of the resolution. It also condemns the heavy hand approach to the Black Lives Matter demonstrations across the US and heavily criticized Trump’s “inflammatory rhetoric” as the President threatened to deploy the military to quell the unrest.
However, EU member states were not exempt from the criticism, and the EU Parliament called on the states to denounce the use of force and racist tendencies in law enforcement. The parliament also identified the slave trades, which the bloc also benefited from financially, as a crime against humanity.
On Friday, the parliament passed another resolution warning Beijing of legal action if it goes ahead with its plans to impose new security law in Hong Kong.
The EU parliament resolution came after the UN human rights council condemned the police brutality and demanded a report on systematic racism in the US.
On Saturday, President Donald Trump is expected to hold his first campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1921 the site witnessed the worst race massacres. He has also ignored his government’s public health advice to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
