Chinese report paints bleak picture of human rights situation in US

BEIJING: The human rights situation in the United States continued to deteriorate in 2023 and become increasingly polarised, said a Chinese report on Wednesday. 

According to Xinhua, China's State Council Information Office issued the Report on Human Rights Violations in the United States in 2023 wherein it revealed the deteriorating human rights situation in the US with facts and figures.

The report sought concrete measures by the US government against the human rights problems and respond to the expectations of the people and international concerns.

"While a ruling minority holds political, economic, and social dominance, the majority of ordinary people are increasingly marginalised, with their basic rights and freedoms being disregarded," it said.

The report, noting that the civil and political rights in the US have been reduced to a mere talk, drew attention to other problems including gun violence, partisan fights, police brutality and the ineffective police enforcement accountability system, mass incarceration and forced labor, political polarisation, election manipulation, and the declining government credibility.

Highlighting that African Americans face serious racial discrimination and inequality in fields such as law enforcement and medical services, the report said that "the chronic disease of racism persists."

It added that they have faced extreme discrimination with their rights being constantly violated, and "racist ideology is spreading virulently in the United States and spilling across borders."

The report further said that the poor face extreme difficulty in their lives due to increasing economic and social inequality, adding that Washington has been refusing to ratify the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

The US has also not ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and Convention on the Rights of the Child, said the report, warning that there have been persistent violations of the rights of women and children. 

Speaking about the immigrants, the Chinese report said that the politicians in the US have "forsaken the rights and welfare of immigrants."

"In the United States, human rights is essentially a privilege enjoyed only by a few. The country's various human rights problems seriously threaten and hinder the healthy development of the world human rights cause," said the report.