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US Human Rights: A Chinese Take

Jun 03, 2012 Editorial

We have all become accustomed to the US Government issuing “Human Rights Reports” on other countries, including Guyana. It is perhaps a sign of the increasingly important role that the report on Human Rights in the US by the second biggest economy after the US – China – is being given serious space in the western media.
We include some highlights from the report, in the hope that when it is compared with the US report, a more nuanced picture of Human Rights may be gleaned.
“The State Department of the United States released its Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2011 on May 24, 2012. As in previous years, the reports are full of over-critical remarks on the human rights situation in nearly 200 countries and regions as well as distortions and accusations concerning the human rights cause in China.
“However, the United States turned a blind eye to its own woeful human rights situation and kept silent about it. The Human Rights Record of the United States in 2011 is hereby prepared to reveal the true human rights situation of the United States to people across the world and urge the United States to face up to its own doings.
On life, property and personal security : “A report published by the US Department of Justice on Sept 15, 2011, revealed that in 2010 the US residents aged 12 and above experienced 3.8 million violent victimizations, 1.4 million serious violent victimizations, 14.8 million property victimizations and 138,000 personal thefts.
The violent victimization rate was 15 victimizations per 1,000 residents. The United States is the leader among the world’s developed countries in gun violence and gun deaths. According to a report of the Foreign Policy on January 9, 2011, over 30,000 Americans die every year from gun violence and another 200,000 Americans are estimated to be injured each year due to guns.
On civil and political rights: “In the United States, the violation of citizens’ civil and political rights is severe. It is lying to itself when the United States calls itself the land of the free (The Washington Post, 1/14/12).
“Claiming to defend 99 percent of the US population against the wealthiest, the Occupy Wall Street protest movement tested the US political, economic and social systems. Ignited by severe social and economic inequality, uneven distribution of wealth and high unemployment, the movement expanded to sweep the United States after its inception in September 2011.
Whatever the deep reasons for the movement are, the single fact that thousands of protesters were treated in a rude and violent way, with many of them being arrested – the act of wilfully trampling on people’s freedom of assembly, demonstration and speech – could provide a glimpse to the truth of the so-called US freedom and democracy.
“Almost 1,000 people were reportedly arrested in first two weeks of the movement, according to British and Australian media.
“While advocating press freedom, the US in fact imposes fairly strict censoring and control over the press and “press freedom” is just a political tool used to beautify itself and attack other nations. The US Congress failed to pass laws on protecting rights of reporters’ news sources, according to media reports.
“While forcibly evacuating the Zuccotti Park, the original Occupy Wall Street encampment, the NY police blocked journalists from covering the police actions. They set cordon lines to prevent reporters from getting close to the park and closed airspace to make aerial photography impossible. In addition to using pepper spray against reporters, the police also arrested around 200 journalists, including reporters from NPR and the NYT.
“The US Patriot Act and Homeland Security Act both have clauses about monitoring the Internet, giving the government or law enforcement organizations power to monitor and block any Internet content “harmful to national security.” Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act of 2010 stipulates that the federal government has “absolute power” to shut down the Internet under a declared national emergency.” (To be contd.)

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