Brown's family slams Ferguson inquiry

Following the violent reaction to the announcement that a Missouri grand jury would not indict the police officer who shot and killed the unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown, family representatives on Tuesday denounced the decision.

"We object publicly and loudly as we can on behalf of Michael Brown Jr. and his family that this process is broken. The process should be indicted because of the continuous systematic results that are yielded," Benjamin Crump, one of the Brown family's attorneys, told reporters.

Crump said the family had objected to the use of prosecutor Robert McCulloch, who is the son of a slain police officer and who Crump said had a "symbiotic relationship" with the local police. He said the "data dump" of information from the three-month grand jury process that was released following the verdict brought up more questions than answers.

"A first-year law student would have done a better job of cross-examining the killer of an unarmed person than the prosecutor did," Crump said.

Another lawyer for the Brown family, Anthony Gray, also criticized the process.

"We're going to hold out hope that at some point justice will be served," he said.

Violent protests

The grand jury was launched in the weeks following August 9, when Brown was killed by police officer Darren Wilson on a street in Ferguson, a suburb of St. Louis.

The verdict was met with anger in the predominantly black community, which is patrolled by a predominantly white police force. Dozens of people were arrested overnight Monday to Tuesday after several businesses were burned and looted. Lawyers for Brown's family condemned the violence.

Many school districts in the area canceled classes on Tuesday, while Missouri governor Jay Nixon called in additional forces from the National Guard to help restore order.

Protests held in other US cities went ahead without any major disturbances. The Ferguson case has highlighted long-standing tensions in the United States over race and police tactics.

International reactions

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon added his voice to those calling for restraint on Tuesday.

"(The secretary-general) appeals to all those in Ferguson and throughout the United States who felt disappointment at the grand jury's decision to make their voices heard peacefully and to refrain from any violence," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters, adding: "He also calls on law enforcement authorities, whether at federal, state or at the local level, to protect the rights of people to demonstrate peacefully and to express their opinions peacefully."

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said authorities in the US should hold in-depth examinations into how issues related to race were affecting law enforcement and the administration of justice.

Russia's Foreign Ministry has also weighed in, releasing a statement saying the violence in Ferguson meant that US authorities should focus on "massive domestic problems" regarding human rights.

Relations between Washington and Moscow have declined in disputes over several issues, not least the situation in Ukraine.

se/mkg (AP, AFP, Reuters, dpa)