Though touting itself as a “beacon for human rights,” the United States is yet again enabling the deterioration of its domestic human rights situation. Rather than continuing to lecture others, it is high time for the country to fix its own problems.
Earlier this week, China’s State Council Information Office released a report on human rights violations in the United States in 2023. The report has revealed that the United States underachieved in almost every area last year when it came to protecting human rights, including equality, non-discrimination and health rights.
Even the most fundamental of rights — the right to life — was under threat in the United States.
Last year, Tennessee, Texas and many other U.S. states were subjected to mass shootings, and at least 27 states did not require a license to carry a handgun.
Statistics show that all types of gun violence are on the rise in the United States, raising serious concerns from the United Nations Human Rights Committee.
Rather than working to solve the problem, certain U.S. politicians have been busy taking care of their own interests or engaging in partisan fights — all while paying lip-service to potential voters.
As Al Jazeera columnist Belen Fernandez put it, the United States “is entirely predicated on putting profits over people.”
While a ruling minority holds political, economic and social dominance in the country, the majority of its people are increasingly marginalized, and their basic rights and freedoms are disregarded. This is true for how the United States deals with its problems at home, and for how it acts in the international arena.
The United States has not ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, and remains the only UN member state that has not ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
It seems that for the United States, there is no rule that cannot be bent and no principle that cannot be undercut.
While proclaiming the need to protect civilians, the United States provides Ukraine with large numbers of cluster munitions capable of causing severe harm to civilians. And while it condemns Hamas’ attacks on Israel, it hesitates even to state that Israel has violated human rights in Gaza, turning a blind eye to the unprecedented humanitarian crisis in the region.
Beyond these double standards, the United States has created enduring humanitarian crises through wars it initiated overseas.
A research report released on the website of Brown University’s Costs of War project in May 2023 revealed that the death toll of U.S. overseas “counter-terrorism” operations following the 9/11 attacks could be 4.5-4.7 million.
This problematic track record shows that in the United States, human rights are essentially privileges enjoyed only by a few. And for the international community, this reality threatens and hinders the healthy development of the global human rights cause.
Unfortunately, certain U.S. politicians remain too self-righteous to cease their arbitrary comments and groundless accusations about the human rights situations in other countries.
In a world featuring long-lasting conflicts, rapid changes and unprecedented challenges, what the global human rights cause truly needs are concrete actions to create better lives for all and promote the building of a community with a shared future for humanity. What the human rights cause does not need is a self-righteous underachiever like the United States.
