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NEW YORK, Mar 12 (OneWorld) - The United States government is facing new international scrutiny for its treatment of racial minorities.

Last Friday, a Geneva-based UN rights body strongly criticized the Bush administration for failing to meet international standards on racial justice and equality.

After considering the United States' testimony, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) said it had found "stark racial disparities" in the U.S. criminal justice system and other spheres of public life.

CERD is tasked to monitor global compliance with the 1969 International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, an international treaty that has been ratified by the United States and 172 other UN member states.

In its concluding observations, the 18-member panel of experts urged the Bush administration to eliminate "racial bias" in the criminal justice system, housing, health care, and education.

This is the second time in less than two years that the United States has drawn fire for discriminatory practices against its minorities. In March 2006, the UN panel assailed the U.S. government for violating Native Americans' land rights and said Washington had run afoul of the treaty.

In its 13-page ruling this year, the UN body condemned racial disparities in the death penalty and in the sentencing of minors to life without parole. It also called for a moratorium on the death penalty, to root out racial bias.

The panel also raised questions about the legality of indefinite detention of non-citizens at the Guantanamo Bay military prison camp and urged the United States to guarantee so-called "enemy combatants" judicial review of the lawfulness and conditions of their detention.

The Committee asked the United States to provide follow-up information within one year on five specific areas, including racial profiling, particularly against Arabs, Muslims, and South Asians in the wake of 9/11, and the ongoing hardships faced by communities of color affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

The Committee said the United States needs to implement training programs for judiciary, federal, and state law enforcement officials, teachers, and social workers in order to raise their awareness about the treaty and the obligations the United States is required to uphold as a signatory.

In criticizing U.S. practices, the Committee rejected the Bush administration's view that its human rights treaty obligations do not apply to laws or practices that are race-neutral on their face but discriminatory in effect.

The Committee observed that racial segregation in housing and in public schools and systemic inadequacies in criminal defense have a disproportionate impact on racial minorities.

The U.S.-based human rights defenders who went to Geneva to monitor the U.S. government delegation's testimony said they were pleased with CERD's observations and recommendations.

"The Committee has exposed to the world the extent to which racial discrimination has been normalized and effectively made permissible in many areas of American life by U.S. law and practices," said Ajamu Baraka of the Human Rights Network, an umbrella group representing more than 250 organizations.

Last December, the Network had prepared an in-depth, independent shadow report on the United States regarding its compliance with the antiracism treaty.

Baraka urged the United States to heed the UN recommendations and review its definition of racial discrimination, which requires "proof of intent" to discriminate and is in conflict with the definition of discrimination under the treaty.

The antiracism treaty prohibits racial discrimination in all forms, including practices and legislation that may not be discriminatory in purpose, but in effect.

In addition to numerous other recommendations, the Committee has asked the U.S. government to consider the establishment of an independent human rights body on the national level which could help harmonize race relations and end widespread disparities.

Baraka and other other leading activists said this recommendation would go a long way towards understanding racism and race discrimination as a denial of human rights, not just civil rights.

"The UN is telling the U.S. that it needs to deal with an ugly aspect of its criminal justice system," said Alison Parker of Human Rights Watch, which has been monitoring discriminatory practices in the United States for years.

In a statement, Parker hailed the UN panel for rejecting the U.S. government's claim that more black children get life without parole because they commit more crimes, and held that the UN criticism of the U.S. justice system was fair.

"Once again, the Bush administration has been told by a major human rights body that it is not above the law," said Parker in alluding to the indefinite detention of Guantanamo prisoners.

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