Michael Brown's parents address U.N.: 'We need the world to know'

Michael Brown's parents address U.N.: 'We need the world to know'

CJP is proud to support the work of the family of Mike Brown and activists from Ferguson. For more information on their work at the UN Committee Against Torture or to make a donation to their efforts visit fergusontogeneva.com

(CNN) -- The parents of Michael Brown, a Missouri teen killed by police, testified before a U.N. committee Tuesday because they want the world to know "what's going on in Ferguson."

Lesley McSpadden and Michael Brown Sr. spoke to the United Nations Committee Against Torture -- which also works against cruel or degrading treatment or punishment by government authorities.

"We need the world to know what's going on in Ferguson and we need justice," McSpadden told CNN in Geneva, Switzerland.

Miami Beach Police defend officer linked to Taser death

MIAMI  - The union of the Miami Beach Police Thursday defended one of its agents in the case of Colombian youth killed in 2013 by firing a Taser and said the cause of death is still a "mystery".

In a letter to the Committee against Torture of the United Nations in the absence of a week of the audience that will hear the case, Sergeant Alejandro Bello, president of the union, said the fact is "still under investigation" and that the Taser are considered weapons "non-lethal".

However Meena Jagannath, the Hernandez family attorney, said Thursday that "the autopsy clearly states that the cause of death was a shock transmitted by an electronic device."

Protesters arrested at Orange County Convention Center

Protesters arrested at Orange County Convention Center

The International Association of Chiefs of Police was holding a meeting at the Orlando facility, and the protesters said they wanted to speak to leaders of the conference about improving relations between minorities and police.

The group said it was protesting police-involved shootings and the militarization of police and practices they say target minority youths when a confrontation occurred with authorities.

 

Photo Credit @DreamDefenders/Twitter

Report on Israel "Reefa" Hernandez's Death Filed With UN Committee Against Torture

Report on Israel "Reefa" Hernandez's Death Filed With UN Committee Against Torture

Local activists hope to bring the 2013 death of teenager Israel "Reefa" Hernandez at the hands of Miami Beach Police to the attention of the United Nations Committee Against Torture. The Dream Defenders and the Community Justice Project of Florida Legal Services have filed a report with the UN in time for the committee's 53rd meeting next month in Switzerland alleging that Hernandez's death was the result of unchecked police brutality. 

Florida Prosecutors Face Long Odds When Police Use Lethal Force

Florida Prosecutors Face Long Odds When Police Use Lethal Force

MIAMI — For decades Florida has had a history of deadly, racially tinged police confrontations, many of them involving unarmed men, which have led to riots, protests and a steady undercurrent of rancor between minorities and the police. But in the past 20 years, not a single officer in Florida has been charged with using deadly force. ...

8 Activists Arrested In Miami During Protest Over Michael Brown's Death

8 Activists Arrested In Miami During Protest Over Michael Brown's Death

Curtis Hierro is arrested by police in the Federal Justice Building in Miami Aug. 14. Protesters, which included members of the civil rights group Dream Defenders, say they want justice for Mike Brown, shot and killed by police in Ferguson, Missouri, Aug. 9. They also want justice for 18-year old graffiti artist Israel Hernandez, who died from shock from a Miami Beach police officer's Taser last summer.

Dream Defenders Stand Their Ground At United Nations

The Dream Defenders are taking their message to the floor of the United Nations.

The group, which is against Florida’s “stand your ground” law and formed in the wake of Trayvon Martin’s death, submitted an eight-page shadow report Friday to the U.N. Human Rights Committee answering questions the committee raised as to whether stand your ground violates the United States’ civil rights obligations. ...

Board Urged to Adopt Restorative Justice

(Florida International University) – Nearly 100 parents, students and school administrators at a meeting Monday pressed the Miami-Dade School Board to adopt a “Restorative Justice” program to reduce suspensions, dropouts and arrests at public schools.

Supporters of the program say it views crime more broadly than simple law breaking, focusing on the harm it causes to victims, communities and the accused themselves, in addition to the judicial system.


The call came at a meeting at the Belafonte TACOLCY Center in Liberty City, sponsored by the Power U Center for Social Change, an activist organization that has been working on the issue for several years. ...