"There is a disturbing correlation between race, both of the victim and the defendant, and the imposition of the death penalty in America," according to The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination which released three pages of preliminary conclusions Aug. 13. A full report was scheduled for release at Final Call presstime.

The committee also expressed concerns about police brutality, urging the United States to begin training its police forces to combat prejudices.

Some 54 percent of people on death row in the U.S. come from non-white groups, although minorities make up just 20 percent of the population, noted the report.

A group of 18 independent experts, who monitor how signatory countries comply with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, examined a number of countries. The committee hearings in Geneva, Switzerland, coincided with preparations for the UN World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, scheduled for Aug. 31-Sept. 7 in Durban, South Africa.

The UN report said the U.S. continues to be "criticized for its insistence that a victim of racism must prove there was an intent to discriminate in order to win protection by law." Under the U.S.-approved UN pact, it is only necessary to prove there was a discriminatory effect, the group said.

In a report submitted to the UN committee, the U.S. said steps had been taken to ensure protection against discrimination but acknowledged more had to be done.

U.S. officials say that there will be no reaction to the report until it has been reviewed by the administration.

The UN is the third group to chide the U.S. for failing to deal squarely with race and the criminal justice system and other problems. Other critics of American rights failures include Human Rights Watch, which called for a moratorium on the death penalty because of racial disparity in its application, and Amnesty International, which blasted the U.S. for racism in law enforcement and the courts.

The UN committee issuing the latest report rejected the U.S. argument that "purely private" acts of racism were beyond "the scope of government regulation." The committee also rejected the assertion by the Bush administration that "affirmative action" was only an option and not a requirement under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

Meanwhile, Washington has threatened to boycott the racism conference, saying it would not tolerate draft conference declarations that single out alleged Israeli racist practices.

Some activists say the "Zionism as racism" controversy is a smoke screen for the real reason behind the U.S. staying away. "President George Bush wants to duck the issue of reparations, and that the trans-Atlantic slave trade is a crime against humanity," Mantu Matsimela, of the Black Radical Congress, charged at an Aug. 14 press conference in Brooklyn.

"We have come here today to affirm our position that the World Conference Against Racism will be successful, with or without the Bush Administration," added Dr. Conrad Worrill of the National Black United Front.

The December 12th Movement, a New York-based organization, sponsored the press conference to provide an update on the results of the final preparatory meeting for the racism conference. Participants included Ron Daniels, Center for Constitutional Rights; Elombe Brath, Patrice Lumumba Coalition; Mantu Matsimela, Black Radical Congress; Jitu Weusi, National Black United Front and Herman Ferguson, New Afrikan Liberation Front.

"The western media have reported that African delegates are caving in to pressure from England, Canada and the U.S., not to support the issues of reparations and slavery as a crime against humanity. That is not true. The African/Africa Descendants Caucus remains absolutely unified around the question of reparations," said Viola Plummer of the December 12th Movement. When a reporter asked why such reports would be circulated, Ms. Plummer replied, "They want people in the Diaspora to think that nothing will come from the World Conference Against Racism."

Her group plans to take nearly 400 people from the U.S. to the conference.

Another reporter asked the activists to respond to those who say their generation had nothing to do with slavery and shouldn�t pay reparations.

"The government of this country is culpable and there is the issue of corporate culpability. The argument by those who use the generation ploy is an attempt to escape the culpability issue by using the individual as a subterfuge," Ron Daniels said.

Added Mr. Matsimela: "Whites in the U.S. today benefit from what is called �unjust enrichment.� Slavery was an economic institution and so is racism, and whites continue to enslave us through the institution."