The parents of Ferguson police-shooting victim Michael Brown said they traveled to a United Nations session in Geneva to "get justice for our son." A grand jury in Missouri will decide whether the white officer who shot the unarmed black teen will face any charges. While that panel hears evidence, Brown's parents made their first overseas trip to testify before the U.N. Committee Against Torture.
In testimony on Tuesday, Brown's mother, Lesley McFadden became emotional while his father, Michael Brown Sr. said he wished he could have put himself between his son and the bullets that killed him Aug. 9, setting off days of protest and unrest and drawing the attention of the Obama administration. "Whatever the grand jury decides in Missouri will not bring Michael back," the father told U.N. panelists, according to NBC station KSDK. "We also understand that what you decide here may save lives." At a news conference after Wednesday''s committee session, the elder Brown said, "Me and his mother, we came here to get justice for our son."
The committee is meeting to review countries' compliance with the international Convention Against Torture, and the U.S. is the focus of two days of testimony. In a statement released by the White House, the National Security Council said the American delegation intention was to underscore "that all U.S. personnel are legally prohibited under international and domestic law from engaging in torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment at all times, and in all places."
IN-DEPTH
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