Since May 26th 2020, the USA has seen violence and brutality enforced by police and military forces against innocent, peaceful protestors around the country. There is a mountain of evidence proving that the police are misusing so-called “less lethal” rounds and chemical weapons such as tear gas against completely peaceful protestors resulting in permanent injuries and the deaths of their own citizens. There is also evidence of police staging destruction and in some cases even destroying their own property as justification for these wanton acts of cruelty. It is the world’s duty to strongly condemn these barbaric acts and try to prevent them from continuing.

If any other country in the world dared to attack its own citizens and undermine its own democracy in such a blatant and brutal a manner as we have seen from the American government and police force, that country would swiftly face international pressures both in strong condemnations and sanctions. We demand that these same pressures are applied to the USA in the form of a ban on trading arms, military gear and riot suppression equipment such as shields and tear gas.

This would follow the precedent set by the EU sanctions on Myanmar (Burma) following the regime’s violent attacks on their Rohingya citizens. In this case, both the EU and the UK have banned all exports of weapons and other items that could be used for military purposes to Myanmar, and the individuals responsible for the crimes against humanity are faced with asset freezes and travel bans. We must implement these same measures with haste against the USA in order to send a clear message: We will not allow such blatant violations of human rights no matter what country is committing them.