Ferguson protests: Amnesty accuses police on human rights

Amnesty International traditionally sends observers to war zones and countries with authoritarian regimes. Now, in a first for the human rights organisation, it has deployed staff to cover an event within the US itself.

A team of 15 has gone to Ferguson, Missouri, to monitor claims of police violations during the protests which erupted following the 9 August shooting of an unarmed black teenager.

Responsibility has shifted over the past 10 days with the state highway patrol taking over from the local force, before the National Guard was then deployed. The authorities have defended their response as proportionate.

But Steven Hawkins, executive director of Amnesty International USA, told the BBC that he was disturbed by the military-style tactics. And even though tensions in the town seem to have calmed, he said he would be urging local police forces to undertake more training in how to handle protests.

Produced by the BBC's Franz Strasser