From Germany to Japan, the world has united in protest against the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man suspected of counterfeiting a $20 bill. Floyd desperately repeated “Please, I can’t breathe” while Derek Chauvin, a white Minneapolis police officer, kneeled on his neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds. Although this tragedy occurred in the United States, opposition to police brutality and racism extends far beyond American borders.
In the United Kingdom, thousands of protesters defied social distancing orders and knelt in unison for nearly nine minutes, the amount of time Chauvin’s knee was pressed into George Floyd’s neck. Among chants demanding “Justice for George,” many criticized the racism of their own country. Since 1990, there have been over 1,500 deaths in police custody across England and Wales. Around 10% of those who died were black. In the past 15 years, all prosecutions of police killings have ended in acquittal, causing British protesters to claim, “The U.K. is not innocent in this.”
In Berlin, crowds swarmed the U.S. embassy shouting “black lives matter.” Members of the German Bundesliga soccer league also showed their solidarity. Jadon Sancho and Achraf Hakimi wrote “Justice for George Floyd” on their jerseys, while Marcus Thuram knelt on the field. In Germany, 12,000 illegal acts of police brutality occur annually, with only 2% reviewed in court. Police generally inflict inhumane acts on immigrants and asylum-seekers. In 2019, German police assaulted an Afghan man being deported against his will. According to reports, he was asphyxiated, taped to a chair and groped by officers. “People believe Europe is safe and civilized, but that’s for white people. For people of color, it’s a different story,” explains Biplab Basu, founder of Reach Out, an organization supporting German immigrants.
“Justice for George” rally in Berlin, Germany. Leonhard Lenz. CC0
Nearly 4,000 in Toronto rallied against worldwide racism. Protests were in response to the deaths of both George Floyd and Regis Korchinski-Paquet, a black woman in Toronto who fell from her high-rise apartment balcony while alone with police. Between 2000 and 2017, Canadian police were involved in 460 fatal interactions with civilians. Indigenous and black communities are disproportionately affected by this brutality relative to other ethnicities.
Michelle Bachelet, the former president of Chile and current human rights chief at the United Nations, further condemned the cyclical killing of black Americans and minorities abroad. “Procedures must change, prevention systems must be put in place, and above all police officers who resort to excessive use of force, should be charged and convicted for the crimes committed,” stated Bachelet.
Chileans have compared their push for police reform to the situation in the United States. One Twitter user posted, “In Chile, George Floyd is named Gustavo Gatica or Fabiola Campillai.” Gustavo Gatica was blinded by a policeman’s rubber bullets while protesting social inequality. During a similar demonstration, Fabiola Campillai was blinded by tear gas, causing permanent brain damage. As of March, Chilean protests had resulted in 31 deaths, 3,000 injuries and 30,000 arrests.
Protestors march in Toronto. Jason Harsgrove. CC BY 2.0
Pule Mabe, spokesperson for South Africa's ruling political party, the African National Congress (ANC), implored the United States to implement change. He stated, “It is deplorable that almost after 70 years of racial segregation was abolished in America, people of color are still routinely slaughtered for the color of their skin.” In South Africa, a nation still healing from apartheid, 3,500 cases of police brutality are reported each year, with only 1.9% of officers convicted. Most recently, Collins Khosa, a 40-year-old black man, was beaten to death by security forces. Khosa, accused of drinking alcohol in public, was strangled and repeatedly received blunt-force trauma to the head. A South African news station asserted, “The deaths of Collins Khosa and George Floyd at the hands of security forces in South Africa and the U.S. show that the lives of certain categories of people in our societies are considered more precious than others.”
U.S. ambassador to Zimbabwe Brian Nichols called for a united front in the wake of George Floyd's death: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” He also added, “Zimbabweans surely wonder when, after so many years, Patrick Nabanyama, Itai Dzamara and Paul Chizuze will get justice.” Nabanyama, Dzamara and Chizuze were abducted in broad daylight by suspected state officials. Abductions are relatively common among critics of the Zimbabwean government. In January, during a demonstration against increased fuel prices, police raped 17 women, killed 17 protesters and arrested over 1,000 suspected protesters during door-to-door raids. In the following months, several activists and critics have been arrested, abducted or tortured.
Japan has also remained highly intolerant of police violence. Although the government has yet to release a formal statement, Japanese citizens have joined in protests against racism. About 200 people demonstrated in front of Shibuya police station in Tokyo, demanding justice for the deaths of unarmed black men. They also denounced the treatment of Kurdish immigrants in Japan. Recently, an unnamed Kurdish man was tackled and brutally attacked by two Japanese police officers. In 2019, a 26-year-old Kurdish immigrant sued the Japanese government, claiming he was left untreated for cancer while detained in the country. To promote equality, citizens chanted “do not discriminate against foreigners” throughout the streets of Tokyo.
Protestors raise their fists in solidarity. Anthony Crider. CC BY 2.0
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently tweeted, “The racist and fascist approach that led to the death of George Floyd in the U.S. city of Minneapolis as a result of torture has not only deeply saddened all of us, but it has also become one of the most painful manifestations of the unjust order we stand against across the world.” Turkish citizens quickly responded, calling Erdogan hypocritical. Erdogan is notorious for leading campaigns against the Kurds, a minority in Turkey. Hundreds of complaints have been filed against Turkish police, accusing officers of torture and coercion. In 2019, three Kurds, aged 14 to 17, alleged that officers beat them with batons and forced their heads into toilet bowls. In the wake of George Floyd’s murder, however, President Erdogan vowed to “protect the rights of all of humanity.” The Kurds, who continually endure blatant racism and violence, hope this holds true.
Police brutality is a seemingly shared struggle. George Floyd’s death has exposed universal inequality, causing countries to reflect upon their own human rights violations. Yet, the attention is still focused on the United States. The world is watching and waiting for this supposed defender of democracy to put an end to systemic racism.
Shannon Moran
is a Journalism major at the University of Georgia, minoring in English and Spanish. As a fluent Spanish speaker, she is passionate about