The death of unarmed African American George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis earlier this week has led to nationwide outrage in the U.S. and across the world, with calls for police accountability and investigations and questions on the human rights situation and entrenched racism in the United States.

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Unrest flares in U.S. cities after the death of George Floyd

George Floyd case fuels new tensions in the U.S.

The unrest in Minnesota demonstrates that serious human rights problems have accumulated in the United States, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Friday.

"This incident is not the first in the string of incidents exposing lawlessness and unjustified violence by 'guardians of law and order' in the United States," the statement read.

"Such high-profile crimes are being committed by U.S. police officers too often. The U.S. has evidently accumulated endemic problems in the human rights sphere," it noted.

"We call upon the U.S. authorities to return to fulfillment of international obligations, to bring its national legislation into accordance with basic UN principles on the use of force and firearms by law enforcement officers, and, of course, to thoroughly investigate the murder of George Floyd," the ministry said.

According to a report on human rights violations in the United States issued by China in March, discrimination and racism rank are prominent aspects of disregard to human rights in the U.S.

The report is based on research, published data and media reports about human rights record in the U.S and found that African American adults are 5.9 times more likely to be incarcerated than their white compatriots.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying wrote "I can't breathe" on Twitter in reference to the last sentence Floyd said as a police officer pinned him down to the ground with his knee on the 46-year-old man's neck, as shown in a video filmed by a passerby.

Many online retweeted the post with a cartoon depicting the scene and criticizing how U.S. police treats African Americans.

The former President of Ghana Jerry John Rawlings also condemned the racist killing of Floyd.

"It is heart-warming to see Americans react the way they are to the unfortunate incident," he tweeted, calling the killing "shameful and unfortunate."

"If some of these atrocities, especially from some white police officers against black citizens, cannot shock the American populace to see evidence of their own decline, what can?" he questioned.

The Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC) Moussa Faki Mahamat also condemned the murder of Floyd, reiterating the African Union's rejection of the continuing discriminatory practices against black U.S. citizens.

In the statement by spokesperson Ebba Kalondo on behalf of Mahamat, the AUC chairperson urged the U.S. "to intensify their efforts to ensure the total elimination of all forms of discrimination based on race or ethnic origin."