UN Human Rights Office Urges US Authorities to Investigate Fatal ICE Shooting

JAKARTA - The United Nations human rights office has urged US authorities to conduct a "prompt, independent and transparent" investigation into the fatal shooting by ICE officers, the country's immigration agency.

"Under international human rights law, the intentional use of lethal force is only permissible as a last resort against an individual who represents an immediate threat to life," said UN human rights spokesman Jeremy Laurence, stressing the need for accountability in this case.

Laurence's statement comes as protests have spread across the US following the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Minneapolis resident Renee Good by ICE officer Jonathan Ross in Minnesota.

"We take note of the FBI's investigation and insist on the need for a swift, independent and transparent investigation into Mrs. Good's murder," he told reporters in Geneva.

Laurence said all authorities must "take steps to de-escalate tensions and refrain from incitement to violence."

Trump administration officials said the shooting was an act of self-defense, a claim rejected by local authorities and eyewitnesses, who showed video footage of the incident.

The US state of Minnesota and its two largest cities - Minneapolis and St. Paul - on Monday filed a lawsuit against the federal Department of Homeland Security to end what they called a "federal invasion" of their state. The lawsuit aims to stop "the unprecedented deployment of federal agents", which is more than 2,000 agents.

The filing also accuses the Trump administration of violating the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution by overriding Minnesota's right to regulate its own security, which in the lawsuit is classified as a "federal invasion of the Twin Cities."