Lesley McSpadden and Michael Brown Sr., parents of Michael Brown Jr., were scheduled to address the 53rd Session of the United Nations Committee against Torture in Geneva, Switzerland on November 12 and 13.
Their trip, sponsored by the U.S. Human Rights Network, comes just before a grand jury decision on whether to indict Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson is expected. Wilson fatally shot unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown Jr. on August 9.
Traveling with the Brown family will be Justin Hansford, Saint Louis University law professor and protest legal observer. The effort was inspired by and is part of a larger U.S. delegation heading to Geneva to hold the U.S. government accountable.
Hansford said their goal is to further expose, and ultimately solve, systematic issues within the U.S. legal system against black and brown communities. He said the killing of Michael Brown is a human rights violation.
“This is something we as a people needed to do for a long time – take civil rights issues and turn them into human rights issues,” Hansford said.
They hope to unite governments around the world against human rights violations that result from racial profiling and police violence.
“I’m confident that people in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East see what’s happening and are disturbed by it – and if we asked for help, they would give it,” Hansford said.
They will also address the use of excessive force by law enforcement against protestors in the weeks of unrest following Brown’s shooting.
On November 12 and 13 they will formally present a UN Shadow Report, which Hansford co-authored with attorneys Jessica Lee, Jeena Shah and Meena Jagannath. In that report, Hansford said, are detailed accounts of excessive force used by law enforcement against protestors.
This includes accounts of protestors, including the elderly and small children, being tear gassed and shot at with rubber bullets, he said. Hansford said that he was tear gassed, at one point, and arrested during #MoralMonday Wal-Mart protests on October 13. He was jailed along with rapper and activist Tef Poe and Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors.
Additional funds of $7,000 were privately raised to also take Jagannath, one of the Brown family attorneys Daryl Parks, and a few Ferguson frontline protestors, Hansford said. Donations were solicited to support the #FergusontoGeneva campaign online.
Hansford recalled initial conversations with the Brown family regarding the #FergusontoGeneva campaign, stating that it was difficult to get near the Brown family.
“They are well protected by a cocoon of people,” he said. “But, I was determined.”
The Rev. Carlton Lee, Brown family pastor at Flood Christian Church and president of the National Action Network’s Ferguson chapter, served as a “bridge,” Hansford said. Hansford eventually met with and presented a brief of the UN Shadow Report to the Brown family and gained their support.
Hansford admits that not everyone has been supportive of the campaign. He said Wilson supporters are upset by the UN trip, which he said reaffirms that they are on the right track. Hansford said he is inspired by Nelson Mandela and his ability to garner global support in his fight against apartheid.
“It’s time for us to make this a global movement,” Hansford said
Visit fergusontogeneva.org to support the campaign. Follow this reporter: @BridjesONeil.
