Lesley McSpadden and Michael Brown Sr., parents of Michael Brown Jr., will address the 53rd Session of the United Nations Committee against Torture in Geneva, Switzerland next week. Their trip, sponsored by the U.S. Human Rights Network, comes before a grand jury verdict to indict Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson for fatally shooting 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 US delegation heading to Geneva to hold the US government accountable. Hansford said their goal is to further expose, and ultimately solve, systematic issues within the US 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,” Hansford said. “Take civil rights issues and turn them into human rights issues.”
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,” said Hansford. “And if we asked for help, they would give it.”
They will also address the use of excessive force by law enforcement against protestors in the weeks of unrest following Brown’s shooting. They will formally present a UN Shadow Report on November 12 and 13, which Hansford co-authored along with attorneys Jessica Lee, Jeena Shah, and Meena Jagannath. In that report, Hansford said are detailed accounts of excessive force by law enforcement against protestors.
Accounts of protestors, including the elderly and small children, being tear gassed and others being 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 Matters co-founder Patrisse Cullors.
Hansford said additional funds of $7,000 were privately raised to take along Jagannath, Daryl Parks (one of the Brown family attorneys) and a few Ferguson frontline protestors to Geneva. He is confident that they will raise the total amount of $11,000 before their departure on Monday, November 10.
Donations are being 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.”
Brown family pastor the Rev. Carlton Lee, of Flood Christian Church and president of the National Action Network’s Ferguson, MO chapter, served as a “bridge,” Hansford said. Hansford eventually met with and presented a brief of the UN Shadow Report to the Brown family gaining their support.
Hansford admits that not everyone has been supportive of the campaign. He said Wilson supporters are upset by the U.N. 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,” he said
Visit fergusontogeneva.org to support the campaign. Follow this reporter: @BridjesONeil