Image Credit: JOSEPH EID / Contributor / Getty 
A United Nations group is set to independently investigate the Akron, Ohio police shooting of Jayland Walker after officers shot him around 60 times as he ran from them on June 27.
The newly created UN group, formed in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death, is called the “International Independent Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in Law Enforcement.”
According to its web page, the goal of the “Expert Mechanism” is specifically to “end systemic racism and human rights violations by law enforcement against Africans and people of African descent.”
The UN Expert Mechanism issued a three-year “mandate” calling for “further transformative change for racial justice and equality in the context of law enforcement globally, especially where relating to the legacies of colonialism and the Transatlantic slave trade in enslaved Africans, to investigate Governments’ responses to peaceful anti-racism protests and all violations of international human rights law and to contribute to accountability and redress for victims.”
The group will be “conducting country visits,” as well as engaging in “inclusive outreach and consultations with States, directly affected individuals and communities, and other stakeholders.”
During its visits, the UN racial crusaders are going to be “examining systemic racism,” and “Examining the root causes of systemic racism in law enforcement and the criminal justice system.”
This includes searching for “supremacist movements and actors within law enforcement and the criminal justice system,” and “Making recommendations with regard to addressing systemic racism.”
When advising local governments around the world, the group says it will make recommendations based on United Nations Human Rights guidances.
Finalizing its resolution, the UN Expert Mechanism states it plans on monitoring the implementation of its recommendations and “identifying obstacles to their full implementation.”
On December 16, 2021, the President of the Human Rights Council appointed three individuals to serve as heads of the Expert Mechanism group.
Former justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa Yvonne Mokgoro, former NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Equity and Inclusion Dr. Tracie Keesee, and professor of human rights law Juan Méndez are the group leaders.
The death of Walker, a 25-year-old black man, is currently being investigated by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
The UN group says it will begin its investigation after the state’s internal inspection is finished.