22 Apr, 2013
Tit-for-tat: China Blasts U.S. Human Rights Record
BEIJING, (China Daily) — The State Council Information Office of the People’s Republic of China published a report titled “Human Rights Record of the United States in 2012” last Sunday. It was in response to the U.S. State Department’s release of its Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2012, which the Chinese describe as being an attempt by the U.S. to pose as “the world judge of human rights”.
In a foreword to its report, the Chinese government says, “As in previous years, the (U.S.) reports are full of carping and irresponsible remarks on the human rights situation in more than 190 countries and regions including China. However, the US turned a blind eye to its own woeful human rights situation and never said a word about it. Facts show that there are serious human rights problems in the US which incur extensive criticism in the world. The Human Rights Record of the US in 2012 is hereby prepared to reveal the true human rights situation of the US to people across the world by simply laying down some facts.”
The following is quote from the Introduction of the Chinese human rights report which can be read in full by clicking here.
The human rights situation in the US in 2012 has deeply impressed (sic) people in the following aspects:
— Firearms-related crimes posed serious threat to the lives and personal security of citizens in the US. Some shootings left astonishing casualties, such as the school shooting in Oakland, the Century 16 theater shooting in Colorado and the school shooting in Connecticut.
— In the US, elections could not fully embody the real will of its citizens. Political contributions had, to a great extent, influenced the electoral procedures and policy direction. During the 2012 presidential election, the voter turnout was only 57.5 percent.
— In the US, citizens’ civil and political rights were further restricted by the government. The government expanded the scope of eavesdropping and censoring on personal telecommunications. The police often abused their power, resulting in increasing complaints and charges for infringement upon civil rights. The proportion of women in the US who fell victims of domestic violence and sexual assault kept increasing.
— The US has become one of the developed countries with the greatest income gap. In 2011, the Gini index was 0.477 in the US and about 9 million people were registered as unemployed; About 16.4 million children lived in poverty and, for the first time in history, public schools reported more than one million homeless children and youth.
— There was serious sex, racial and religious discrimination in the US. Indigenous people suffered serious racial discrimination and their poverty rate doubled the national average. A movie produced by a US director and aired online was deemed insulting to the Prophet Mohammed, sparking protests by the Muslims worldwide.
— The US seriously infringed upon human rights of other nations. In 2012, US military operations in Yemen, Afghanistan and Pakistan caused massive civilian casualties. US soldiers had also severely blasphemed against local residents’ religion by burning copies of the Muslim holy book, the Koran, and insulting bodies of the dead. There was a huge rise in birth defects in Iraq since the war against Iraq with military actions in which American forces used metal contaminant-releasing white phosphorus shells and depleted uranium bombs.
— The US was not able to effectively participate in international cooperation on human rights. To date, the US remains a country which has not participated in or ratified a series of core UN conventions on human rights, such as the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
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