Beijing, March 24 (CGTN): A report on human rights violations in the United States in 2020, released on Wednesday, urged Washington to drop hypocrisy and double standards on human rights.
Last year saw the COVID-19 epidemic in America go out of control, accompanied by political disorder, inter-ethnic conflicts, and social division, according to the report, issued by China’s State Council Information Office.
The report said Washington’s incompetent pandemic containment led to tragic outcomes as more than 500,000 Americans lost their lives.
Money-tainted politics is turning U.S. elections into a “one-man show” of the wealthy class and people’s confidence in the American democratic system hit a 20-year low, it said.
The report said ethnic minority groups suffered systematic racial discrimination in the United States where “one in four young Asian Americans has been the target of racial bullying.”
It cited the death of African American George Floyd, who died after being brutally kneeled on his neck by a white police officer. The U.S. government suppressed ensuing protests by force, arresting more than 10,000 people.
The report also drew attention to the growing polarization between the rich and the poor that aggravated social inequality in America.
“The U.S. government, instead of introspecting on its own terrible human rights record, kept making irresponsible remarks on the human rights situation in other countries, exposing its double standards and hypocrisy on human rights,” the report said.
Noting the U.S. trampling on international rules resulted in humanitarian disasters, the report urged the U.S. side to “drop hypocrisy, bullying, ‘Big Stick’ and double standards” and work with the international community to build a community with a shared future for humanity.
American democracy disorder triggers political chaos
American democracy disorder triggered political chaos in the United States, the report also stressed, adding that the influence of money in electoral politics essentially made it a money-led election.
Public trust in U.S. elections was in crisis, said the report. According to Gallup’s figures released in October 2020, only 19 percent of Americans say they are “very confident” about the accuracy of the presidential election, the lowest Gallup has recorded in its trend dating back to 2004.
Political polarization grew, said the report, noting that disagreement between Democrats and Republicans has gradually changed from policy differences to identity battles with increasingly obvious political tribalism.
Power checks and balances have mutated into veto politics, said the report, adding that the bipartisan divides intensified the veto practices inherent in the American system.
The post-election riots highlighted the American democracy crisis and the political chaos in Washington D.C. shocked the world, said the report.
U.S. ethnic minorities devastated by racial discrimination
The ethnic minorities in the United States are devastated by racial discrimination, and racism exists in a comprehensive, systematic and continuous manner, according to the report.
The report pointed out groups such as the American Indians, Asian Americans and African Americans saw their rights violated, and the high level of hate crimes highlighted the deterioration of race relations.
The United States has carried out systematic ethnic cleansing and massacres of Indians in history, and committed countless crimes against humanity, said the report, adding that American Indians still live a life like second-class citizens and their rights have been trampled over.
Many indigenous peoples living in low-income communities suffer from higher rates of cancer and heart diseases from toxic radioactive environments and have an abnormally high rate of birth defects as they live near hazardous waste disposal sites, according to the report.
The report said bullying against Asian Americans escalated, citing a survey that showed that a quarter of young Asian Americans became targets of racial bullying in the past year.
It also pointed out that unchecked police violence has led to frequent deaths of African Americans.
African Americans made up 13 percent of the U.S. population but accounted for 28 percent of the people killed by the police. From 2013 to 2020, about 98 percent of the police involved in shooting cases were not charged with a crime, and the number of convicted was even smaller.
Besides, people of color in the United States were more harmed by the COVID-19 epidemic, said the report.
The infection rate and death rate of COVID-19 in the United States showed significant racial differences, with the infection rate, hospitalization rate, and death rate of African Americans being three times, five times, and twice that of white people, respectively.
People of color faced an even greater threat of unemployment, the report said. Figures released by the U.S. Department of Labor in September showed the jobless rate for black people almost doubled that for the white.
Inequality between races worsened in the United States, said the report, citing statistics that showed the median white household has 41 times more wealth than the median black family and 22 times more than the median Latino family.
Continuous social unrest threatens public safety in U.S.
“The government failed to maintain proper law and order, and shootings and violent crimes, which were already high in incidence, recorded new highs during the COVID-19 pandemic, causing panic among members of the public,” said the report, stressing continuous social unrest threatens public safety in the U.S.
Citing data from Gun Violence Archive, the report said more than 41,500 Americans died by gun violence in 2020, an average of more than 110 a day, which is a record. There had been 592 mass shootings nationwide, an average of more than 1.6 a day.
The police’s unrestrained use of violence in law enforcement triggered waves of protests that swept across the country, the report said.
The police had abused their force to suppress protesters and attacked and arrested journalists on a large scale, further fueling public anger and continuous social unrest, according to the report.
COVID-19 lockdowns, anti-racism protests, and election strife had led to record gun sales of about 23 million in 2020, a 64 percent increase over 2019 sales, it said, noting that the 2020 numbers include purchases by more than 8 million first-time buyers.
Incompetent U.S. pandemic containment in 2020
With a population of less than 5 percent of the world’s total, the United States accounted for more than 25 percent of all the confirmed cases and nearly 20 percent of the deaths by the end of February, said the report.
The report cited epidemiologist and former head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) William Foege, who called the pandemic “a slaughter” to the United States.
The then national leaders of the United States ignored warnings from experts, downplayed the seriousness of the pandemic, and released misleading signals to the public, said the report.
In addition, the report pointed out that the United States was too slow in locking down cities and limiting social contact but too hasty to restart the economy due to political concerns.
It also summarized the greater threat of infection facing vulnerable groups in the United States, including senior citizens, the poor, the handicapped, the homeless, and inmates.
The out-of-control pandemic had brought Americans psychological pressure, leaving people stressed and isolated, according to the report.
Growing polarization between rich, poor aggravates social inequality in U.S.
The COVID-19 epidemic plunged the United States into the worst economic downturn since World War II and has aggravated the country’s wealth inequality, said the report.
“The richest 1 percent of Americans have a combined net worth that is 16.4 times that of the poorest 50 percent,” it said, citing figures from media reports.
The report drew attention to the mass unemployment and food crisis resulting from America’s out-of-control epidemic following its government’s reckless response.
“In April 2020, the unemployment rate soared to 21.2 percent for people with less than a high school degree, surpassing the previous all-time high set in the aftermath of the Great Recession,” the report said.
More than 50 million people – one in six Americans, including one in four children — could experience food insecurity in 2020, it said, quoting an analysis report by Feeding America.
The report also noted that the number of Americans enjoying health insurance has shrunk sharply due to the epidemic, and the digital divide aggravated educational inequality in the country.
U.S. trampling on international rules results in humanitarian disasters
The United States recklessly trampled on international rules amid COVID-19, becoming the biggest troublemaker to global security and stability, according to the report.
The United States withdrew from the World Health Organization in July 2020 despite the opposition of the international community, said the report issued by the State Council Information Office.
Noting that the United States should bear the greatest share of emission reduction based on the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, the report said that the United States’ withdrawal from the Paris Agreement was politically short-sighted, unscientific, and morally irresponsible.
By imposing sanctions against International Criminal Court staff and bullying other countries, the United States escaped from international probes into possible war crimes in other countries and police violence to its citizens said the report.
The unilateral sanctions imposed by the U.S. government on countries including Iran, Cuba, Venezuela, and Syria, made it difficult for the countries to obtain needed anti-pandemic medical supplies in a timely manner, said the report.
Asylum seekers were treated cruelly in the United States, said the report, noting that a huge number of migrant children were stranded in custody for the long haul, and dozens of women claimed that they were subjected to unnecessary gynecological surgeries without their consent, including uterus removal in some cases.
The report also said the U.S. government had expelled at least 8,800 unaccompanied immigrant children despite serious protection risks during the COVID-19 outbreak.
The then U.S. President’s pardon of Blackwater contractors convicted of war crimes in Iraq violated U.S. obligations under international law and had the effect of emboldening others to commit such crimes in the future, the report added.
(With input from Xinhua)
