- Coincidental with high-level US - China May 9 and 10
talks, the Atlantic magazine quoted Hillary Clinton calling China's human
rights record "deplorable." She also suggested possible unrest
erupting like in the Middle East, then added:
-
- "They're worried, and they are trying to stop history,
which is a fool's errand. They cannot do it. But they're going to hold
it off as long as possible," ignoring America's scandalous human rights
record, by far the world's worse.
-
- Each year, the State Department publishes human rights
reports for over 190 countries. Its April 8-released 2010 China assessment
can be accessed through the following link:
-
- http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/160451.pdf
-
- Unsparing in its harshness, it calls China "an authoritarian
state in which the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) constitutionally is the
paramount authority," practicing:
-
- -- "Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of Life;
-
- -- Disappearance(s);
-
- -- Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment
or Punishment;"
-
- -- Harsh and Degrading "Prison and Detention Center
Conditions;
-
- -- Arbitrary Arrest(s) or Detention(s);"
-
- -- Repressive and Corrupt "Police and Security Apparatus"
Practices;
-
- -- Harsh "Arrest Procedures and Treatment While
in Detention;
-
- -- Denial of Fair Public Trial(s);"
-
- -- Incarcerating "Political Prisoners and Detainees;
-
- -- Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home,
or Correspondence;"
-
- -- Limited "Freedom of Speech and Press;"
-
- -- Limited "Academic Freedom;"
-
- -- Restricted "Freedom of Assembly and Association;"
-
- -- Lack of Free "Elections and Political Participation;
-
- -- Official Corruption and (Lack of) Government Transparency;
-
- -- Discrimination, Societal Abuse, and Trafficking in
Persons;
-
- -- Societal Abuses, Discrimination, and Acts of Violence
Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity;
-
- -- (Restricted) Worker Rights;"
-
- -- Repression in Tibet;
-
- -- Restricted Freedom in Hong Kong;
-
- -- Restricted Freedom in Macau;
-
- -- and more in a 145 page report.
-
- China Responds
-
- Indeed, China's no model human rights champion. However,
America's record is far worse at home and abroad, yet self-criticism is
absent. Moreover, rarely do major media reports discuss abuses. Instead
they regurgitate managed news, suppressing full and accurate disclosure
of Washington's most deplorable human and civil rights record at home and
abroad.
-
- On April 10, two days after the State Department's report,
China's Information Office of the State Council published its own comprehensive
report titled, "The Human Rights Record of the United States in 2010,"
saying:
-
- "As in previous years, (US assessments) are full
of distortions and accusations of the human rights situation in more than
190 countries and regions including China. However, (America) turned a
blind eye to its own terrible human rights situation and seldom mentioned
it."
-
- China did, explaining internally suppressed information
about:
-
- -- America's scandalous human rights record;
-
- -- a society in social crisis;
-
- -- a domestic armed camp under police state laws, suppressing
democratic freedoms, criminalizing dissent, spying illegally, controlling
information, and persecuting political prisoners unjustly by denying them
due process and judicial fairness;
-
- -- torture, other abuses, and ill-treatment as official
US policy at home and abroad;
-
- -- having the world's largest global gulag;
-
- -- systematic targeted killings and illegal detentions;
-
- -- permanent wars for unchallengeable global dominance:
-
- -- targeting nonbelligerent nations illegally without
cause;
-
- -- committing ruthless state terror;
-
- -- endangering world stability and peace;
-
- -- illegally transferring public wealth to America's
aristocracy;
-
- -- stealing elections;
- -- institutionalizing two-party duopoly control, mocking
the notion of democratic elections; and
-
- -- as a result, is hated and feared globally, as well
as to a growing extent at home.
-
- In its report, State Department charges were mostly without
corroboration. In contrast, China, under six major headings, used data
from the US Justice Department (DOJ), FBI, other US agencies, state ones,
and think tanks, as well as international and US media reports. They reveal
a far different America than official Washington and managed major media
reports, concealing dark side truths important to reveal.
-
- (1) Life, Property and Personal Security
-
- According to the Justice Department, one in five Americans
are crime victims annually, by far the world's highest percentage. In 2009:
-
- -- an estimated 4.3 million violent crimes were committed;
-
- -- another 15.6 million property crimes; and
-
- -- 133,000 million personal thefts against US residents
aged 12 or older.
-
- Easy access to guns exacerbates the problem, Reuters
saying America ranks first globally on number of privately-owned firearms,
an estimated 200 million, or two for every three residents. The fallout
includes about 12,000 annual gun murders. Weapons are used in over one-fifth
of violent crimes and nearly half of all robberies.
-
- (2) Civil and Political Rights
-
- Severe violations occur regularly, including:
-
- -- privacy abuses; according to ACLU figures, more than
6,600 travelers were subjected to electronic device searches from October
1, 2008 - June 2, 2010, about half US citizens;
-
- -- lawsuits were filed against the Department of Homeland
Security (DHS) for authorizing search and seizures of laptops, cellphones
and other electronic devices, without reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing;
-
- -- refused entry into America, Colombian journalist Hollman
Morris lost a Harvard fellowship by being unjustifiably accused of "terrorist
activities;" many others are treated the same way;
-
- -- the ACLU, Asian Law Caucus, and San Francisco Bay
Guardian sued for release of FBI records on its repressive investigation
and surveillance of Bay Area Muslim communities because of their faith
and ethnicity, not suspicion of criminality;
-
- -- in October 2010, Transportation Security Administration
(TSA) officials ordered subjecting airport passengers to intrusive full-body
scanning or pat-downs; they constitute a violation of privacy, civil liberties,
and freedom of religion in some cases;
-
- -- torture, other abuses, and ill-treatment are major
problems in state and federal detentions to unjustly punish and extract
information and confessions; reports surface regularly like on May 12,
2010, the Chicago Tribune saying local police were charged with arresting
people without warrants, shackling them to walls or metal benches, withholding
food, denying bathroom breaks, and providing no bedding; brutal beatings
are also common, especially against people of color and Muslims;
-
- -- at about 2.4 million, America, by far, has the world's
largest prison population, mostly for nonviolent offenses; Blacks and Latinos
are especially affected; overcrowding is a serious problem as well as torture,
beatings, other abuses, and confinement of an estimated 25,000 inmates
in isolation, another form of torture that turns human beings to mush;
-
- -- political prisoners and wrongful convictions are also
common, including false charges of terrorism and murder, mostly against
Blacks, Latinos, and Muslims;
-
- -- calling itself a "beacon of democracy,"
it's the best money can buy, electoral success depending heavily on raising
the largest amount;
-
- -- "while advocating Internet freedom," strict
cyberspace restrictions are imposed, including by the Senate in June 2010
approving the Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act; if enacted,
it will give authorities "absolute power" to shut down the Internet
under a declared national emergency, whether or not one exists; a February
17, 2011 Foreign Policy magazine article said federal Internet policies
are "full of problems and contradictions;"
-
- (3) Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
-
- -- real unemployment remains stubbornly high at over
20%, way above official figures; so is true inflation at about 10% because
of sharply rising food, energy, medical, college tuition, and other costs
excluded or downplayed in official figures;
-
- -- record high poverty exists, up to double US Census
Bureau numbers based on real cost of living estimates;
-
- -- hunger is a growing problem with a record numbers
of people on food stamps, millions more food insecure, many others needing
emergency help, and growing numbers not sure about their next meal;
-
- -- homelessness also rose sharply, many hundreds of thousands
affected nationally;
-
- -- households without health insurance exceed 50 million
people; a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) November 2010
report showed 22% of Americans aged 16 - 64 had no coverage; in California,
it's nearly one in four.
-
- (4) Racial Discrimination
-
- -- a longstanding problem, it affects all aspects of
social life, but rarely reported; a May 2010 AP/Univision Poll found 61%
of Hispanics and 52% of Blacks affected; on October 28, 2010, The New York
Times said more than 60% of Latinos call discrimination a "major problem;"
-
- -- American minorities enjoy fewer political rights,
experience much higher unemployment, have lower incomes, fewer benefits,
higher poverty, and growing inequality in education;
-
- -- they also lack proper healthcare, face law enforcement
and judicial discrimination, and are victimized most often by hate crimes;
-
- -- Latino immigrant rights are seriously compromised,
including unjustifiable detentions, interrogations, and targeting for appearing
to be Mexican, Latin American, or indigenous non-whites;
-
- (5) Rights of Women and Children
-
- Gender discrimination is widespread;
-
- -- in August 2010, the London Daily Mail said 90% of
US women endure workplace discrimination;
- -- only 3% of Fortune 500 CEOs are women;
- -- women in comparable jobs to men earn only three-fourths
as much on average;
- -- companies like Wal-Mart have a disgraceful gender
discrimination history;
-
- -- millions of US women are victimized by sexual assaults
and violence;
-
- -- an October 2010 National Institute of Justice report
estimated 20 million annual rape victims;
-
- -- female prisoners are extremely vulnerable to rape,
mostly by guards and prison officials;
-
- -- 25% of women experience domestic violence at some
time in their lives;
-
- -- women's health rights aren't properly protected, especially
for people of color;
-
- -- child poverty is severe;
-
- -- on November 21, 2010, the Washington Post said 25%
of children endure hunger, citing the US Department of Agriculture;
-
- -- over 60% of public school teachers say hunger affects
children in their classrooms;
-
- -- violence against children is widespread; according
to Love Our Children USA, an estimated nine million are victimized; and
-
- -- children's physical and mental health are insecure
as a result of neglect, violence, sexual abuse, and societal indifference
to their status.
-
- (6) US Human Rights Violations Against Other Nations
-
- America's longstanding human rights record abroad is
appalling. As a result, in the last two decades alone, US wars, sanctions
and occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan caused millions of deaths and overall
depravation and human misery, mostly affecting civilian men, women and
children. Moreover, in both countries, the death toll mounts daily, often
by cold-blooded murder.
-
- On September 18, 2010, for example, the Washington Post
said a 5th Stryker Combat Brigade "kill team" targeted civilians,
committing random murders, dismembering corpses, and hoarding human bones
as trophies.
-
- Indefinite detentions and torture are rampant. According
to a joint May 2010 UN Human Rights Council/Special Rapporteur report titled,
"Joint Study on Global Practices in Relation to Secret Detention in
Relation in the Context of Counterterrorism," America commits appalling
human rights abuses, including:
-
- -- extraordinary renditions;
-
- -- disappearances;
-
- -- secret detentions;
-
- -- torture, other abuses, and ill-treatment;
- -- cold-blooded murder; and
-
- -- various other crimes against humanity.
-
- Despite promising to close Guantanamo and end these practices,
they continue seamlessly under Obama, showing as much contempt for human
rights as Bush II.
-
- In fact, the rights of numerous nations are violated.
For example, Cuba's been embargoed for half a century, harming the welfare
of its citizens. On October 26, 2010, the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly
adopted a resolution titled, "Necessity of ending the economic, commercial
and financial embargo imposed by the United States of America against Cuba"
for the 19th consecutive time. Only Washington and Israel voted against
it.
-
- Under the UN Genocide Convention's Article II, America
stands guilty. So does Israel for blockading Gaza. Both countries repeatedly
violate, abuse and ignore international law.
-
- Moreover, Washington never ratified:
-
- -- the International Covenant on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights;
-
- -- the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women;
-
- -- the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities;
and
-
- -- the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
-
- On November 5, 2010, the UN Universal Periodic Review
(UPR) enumerated serious US human rights violations, including:
-
- -- failure to ratify key human rights conventions;
-
- -- the rights of ethnic minorities and indigenous peoples;
-
- -- racial discrimination; and
-
- -- maintaining Guantanamo and other overseas torture
prisons.
-
- The UN Human Rights Council and most countries condemned
America for these policies, noting that while paying lip service to human
rights, Washington grievously violates them.
-
- At the same time, it points fingers, enumerates abuses
globally, yet turns a blind eye to its own arrogantly, glaringly and hypocritically.
-
- As a result, its most abusive practices continue abroad
and at home, a different reality than the sanitized major media, film,
academia, and other dominant versions of a nonexistent fictional America.
-
- Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at
lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com
and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the
Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays
at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs
are archived for easy listening.
-
- http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour
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