Racial profiling refers to the process by which law enforcement relies on generalizations based on race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin, rather than objective evidence or individual behaviour, to subject people to stops, detailed searches, identity checks and investigations, or for deciding that an individual was engaged in criminal activity. Racial profiling results in discriminatory decision-making. There are examples of law enforcement agencies’ targeting people of African descent across a range of national contexts.

Whether arising from the attitudes and practices of individual officers or the discriminatory culture or policies of law enforcement agencies, racial profiling is a long-standing practice in many agencies. Moreover, contemporary concerns about terrorism and migration continue to add pressure on law enforcement officers, which frequently drives them to resort to the misguided strategy of racial profiling in pursuit of public safety and security.
The practice of racial profiling violates a number of key
principles and rights under international human rights law. These include non-discrimination and equality before the law and equal protection of the law. By its nature, racial profiling departs from a basic principle of the rule of law that law enforcement determinations should be based on an individual’s conduct, not on their membership in an ethnic, racial or national group. Racial profiling may also have a negative impact on peoples’ enjoyment of other human rights, including the rights to life, liberty and security, privacy, freedom of movement, protection against arbitrary arrest and other interventions, effective remedy, protection of the best interests of the child.