Hundreds of demonstrators take to the streets in downtown Los Angeles on August 13, 2017, protesting white supremacists violence in Charlottesville of Virginia the day before. (Xinhua Photo)
UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) -- As U.S. President Donald Trump is under fierce criticism over the Charlottesville violence, there come voices from the United Nations urging the White House to "unequivocally and unconditionally" reject racist violent events.
CONDEMNATION ON RACIST VIOLENCE
The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) on Wednesday issued a statement, calling on the United States and its high-level politicians to "unequivocally and unconditionally" reject and condemn racist hate speech and crimes in Charlottesville of Virginia State and throughout the country.
"There should be no place in the world for racist white supremacist ideas or any similar ideologies that reject the core human rights principles of human dignity and equality," the statement said.
"We are alarmed by the racist demonstrations, with overtly racist slogans, chants and salutes by white nationalists, neo-Nazis, and the Ku Klux Klan, promoting white supremacy and inciting racial discrimination and hatred," said CERD chief Anastasia Crickley.
"It is a sad day when the president of the United States has so thoroughly failed to denounce white supremacism that UN experts must warn the U.S. about the dangers of racism," Crickley said.
In addition to the criminal investigation of the individual who plowed his car into a crowd of protesters and killed a woman, the UN Committee asked the U.S. authorities to undertake concrete measures "to address the root causes of the proliferation of such racist manifestations."
"We call on the U.S. government to investigate thoroughly the phenomenon of racial discrimination targeting, in particular, people of African descent, ethnic or ethno-religious minorities, and migrants," added Crickley.
Sherine Tadros, representative of Amnesty International at the United Nations, welcomed the UN's move, saying: "It is significant that the UN is speaking out publicly against the actions of the new U.S. administration, which it so far has been reluctant to do."
Earlier, when addressing questions on the situation in the United States, where the deadly violence in Charlottesville sparked discussions about race, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said "these demons are appearing a little bit everywhere."
The UN chief, who denied receiving pressure from Washington that would stop him from speaking out, stressed that racism, anti-Semitism, xenophobia and islamophobia are poisoning human societies, saying it is "absolutely essential for us all to stand up against them everywhere and every time."
SHADOW OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION
The United States has described itself as a "melting pot" and a country of freedom and democracy in which people of different colors and cultures live in tolerance and harmony. It is in the limelight worldwide when violence erupted in Charlottesville.
The decision by Charlottesville's city council to remove a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee from a local public park sparked a white supremacist rally on Aug. 12 that later turned into violent clashes between rival protesters.
A 32-year-old woman was killed and 19 others were injured when a sports car driven by a suspected Nazi supporter plowed into a crowd protesting white supremacism. Two state troopers also died on that day in a helicopter crash after helping monitor the rally, demonstrations and clashes.
Trump at first blamed "many sides" for the Charlottesville violence and corrected his comments to condemn white supremacists, neo-Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan after two days. He responded last week for the third time to the violence by saying "there's blame on both sides," which drew a bipartisan backlash and wide criticism.
The president on Tuesday held a campaign-style rally in downtown Phoenix, the capital of Arizona state to defend his Charlottesville responses while about 2,000 protesters gathered outside shouting "No Trump. No KKK. No Fascism in USA," which exposed deep division in the country.
He lashed out at "dishonest" media at the rally for not covering "fairly" his responses to the Charlottesville violence.
