Two Florida activists went to Geneva to express their concerns about the state’s anti-riot law to a United Nations’ panel that examines racial discrimination.
Ben Frazier of the Northside Coalition in Jacksonville and Community Justice Project attorney Denise Ghartey recently voiced their issues with HB 1, also known as the Combating Public Disorder Act, to the U.N.’s Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) in Geneva. Composed of human rights experts, the committee convenes every two years to evaluate international efforts to eradicate racial prejudice. Frazier and Ghartey’s advocacy led to HB 1 being brought up during Friday’s session.
“What measures are being taken to guarantee the exercise of the right to freedom of peaceful assembly of individuals belonging to racial and ethnic minorities?” Faith Dikeledi Pansy Tlakula, CERD country rapporteur, asked. She then listed examples, referring to HB 1 as a law “aimed at restricting and criminalizing protest activities as a response to racial justice protests and Black Lives Matter protests.”
