Dozens of Ferguson arrests

St Louis County Police on Tuesday said 61 arrests had been made in Ferguson overnight, on charges including trespassing and burglary.

Firefighters in the Missouri town spent Tuesday dousing the remains of burnt-out buildings. More than a dozen businesses were badly damaged or destroyed in rioting which followed the announcement of a grand jury's decision not to indict police officer Darren Wilson for the August 9 fatal shooting of unarmed black 18-year-old Michael Brown.

Despite pleas for calm from Brown's family, which were echoed by US President Barack Obama, the tensions soon flared after the announcement with cars and building set ablaze. St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar has described the violence which broke out in Ferguson overnight Monday as worse than that which occurred in the days following Brown's shooting. Authorities reported hearing gunfire, though police said they did not fire a shot. While no-one was killed or seriously wounded, the Associated Press news agency reports at least 14 people were injured.

"Michael Brown's parents have lost more than anyone. We should be honoring their wishes," Obama said in response to the violence.

The Mayor of nearby St Louis, Francis Slay, said there were 21 arrests in the city, where windows of businesses were broken. The city's Police Chief Sam Dotson, whose jurisdiction doesn't include Ferguson, vowed a stronger response Tuesday night.

"A large presence, very early on, will be a deterrent," said Dotson. "We'll have resources deployed."

Protests were also held in other major United States cities including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington, without reports of violence. The shooting of Brown in Ferguson, whose residents are mainly black but police force mainly white, sparked debate across the United States about police tactics and race relations.

UN Criticism

On Tuesday, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein issued a statement in which he mentioned a "deep and festering" lack of confidence in the fairness of the justice and law enforcement systems in some sectors of the US population. Zeid urged US authorities to conduct in-depth examinations into how race issues affect law enforcement and justice.

"I am deeply concerned at the disproportionate number of young African Americans who die in encounters with police officers, as well as the disproportionate number of African Americans in U.S. prisons and the disproportionate number of African Americans on Death Row," Zeid said.

Zeid also mentioned the recent fatal police shooting of 12-year-old African-American boy, Tamir Rice, in Cleveland, Ohio. "In many countries, where real guns are not so easily available, police tend to view boys playing with replica guns as precisely what they are, rather than as a danger to be neutralized."

se/msh Reuters, AP, AFP, dpa)