The United States Department of State released on March 30th its annual report on the global state of Human Rights for the year 2020.
“The report we’re releasing … shows that the trend lines on human rights continue to move in the wrong direction,” said Secretary of State Antony Blinken. “We see evidence that in every region of the world this is happening:”
“We see it in the genocide being committed against the predominantly Muslim Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minority groups in Xinjiang; the attacks on and the imprisonment of opposition politicians, anti-corruption activists, and independent journalists in places like Russia, Uganda, Venezuela. We see it in the arbitrary arrests, beatings, and other violence against protestors in Belarus, and in the violations and abuses inflicted on the people of Yemen by the parties in that country’s conflict. We see it in the killings, sexual assaults, and other atrocities credibly reported in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, and in the executions, forced disappearances, and tortures committed by the Syrian regime, as well as its ongoing attacks on schools, on markets, on hospitals.”
The Biden-Harris Administration strongly emphasizes its commitment to putting human rights back at the center of U.S. foreign policy. “Standing up for human rights everywhere is in America’s interests,” said Secretary Blinken:
“ Countries where dissent is welcomed, where corrupt and abusive officials are punished, where labor laws are respected, where people of all backgrounds have equal access and opportunities – those countries are more likely to be peaceful, prosperous, stable.…And governments that respect human rights are more likely to support the rules-based international order that the United States and our allies have built and invested in for decades and decades.”
However, that is not the case with countries that run roughshod over their people, said Secretary Blinken:
“They’re almost always the same countries that flout internationally accepted rules beyond their borders – whether that’s by lopping off the territory of other countries, launching cyberattacks, harassing dissidents, spreading disinformation, or breaking trade rules.”
The United States is committed to working with its allies and partners to hold the perpetrators of human rights abuses accountable, said Secretary Blinken.
“Standing for people’s freedom and dignity honors America’s most sacred values. At our best, we stand for freedom and justice for all. Not just here at home, but around the world.”
