Worsening human rights situation in US revealed

Human rights in the United States have continued to deteriorate over the past year, with ordinary people increasingly marginalized and their basic rights and freedoms largely disregarded, according to a report released by China on Tuesday.

The Report on Human Rights Violations in the United States in 2023, issued by the State Council Information Office, highlighted the worsening and increasingly polarized human rights situation in the US with facts and figures. It said that the ruling minority dominates US politics, the economy and society, further widening the gap between the elite and the general population.

The wealth gap in the US has reached its highest point since the Great Depression, which began in 1929, due to systemic policies that exploit the poor, subsidize the rich and segregate classes, according to the report.

It also noted that the issue of "working poor" is prominent, leading last year to the most extensive wave of strikes in the US since the beginning of the 21st century.

Chronic human rights issues such as gun violence, partisan conflicts, police brutality and racial discrimination are prevalent in the US, the report said. Other outstanding issues include forced labor, human trafficking, political polarization and declining government credibility.

The report highlighted systematic racial discrimination against ethnic minorities. African Americans are three times more likely to be killed by police than whites, and nearly three-quarters of Chinese Americans experienced racial discrimination in the past year.

Racist ideology is spreading virulently in the US and spilling across borders, it added.

Police brutality remains a significant human rights issue, with at least 1,247 deaths caused by police violence last year, the highest number since 2013, according to the report.

Partisan conflicts have also worsened, making 2023 the least productive year for Congress since the US Civil War, it said. Public dissatisfaction with the federal government and politics at all levels is extremely high, with 76 percent of people in the US believing the nation is headed in the wrong direction, the report said.

Overseas, the US has long pursued hegemonism, practiced power politics and created humanitarian crises, the report said.

Prolonged and indiscriminate use of unilateral sanctions by the US has caused serious humanitarian consequences, according to the report.

The human rights issues in the US stem from political polarization that intensifies partisan fights and leads to political decay and the dysfunction of the governance system, said Sun Xihui, an associate researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' National Institute of International Strategy.

"The system benefits the wealthy with institutional privileges and policy advantages, while ordinary citizens only experience nominal freedoms and rights, leaving their basic rights and needs unguaranteed," Sun said.

To resolve its human rights issues, the US needs a social revolution and a truly democratic system that limits the influence of oligarchs and monopolies, and expands and protects the basic rights of all citizens, he added.