Respect for human rights continues to decline around the world, as evidenced by the Russian war in Ukraine, the US government said.
“For many years in a row, we have seen a worrying decline in democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights in many parts of the world,” Secretary of State Anthony Blinken told the US State Department’s annual report on the situation of human rights in the world.
Blinken acknowledged that “the recession has unfortunately continued” over the past year.
He cited Russia’s brutal war in Ukraine as one of the most striking examples of human rights abuses. Blinken repeatedly accused Russian forces of “extensive atrocities” in the occupied territories.
“The corpses have been abandoned on the street, theaters, train stations, and apartment buildings flattened to the ground while civilians are inside,” the U.S. secretary of state said.
“We hear it in the testimonies of raped women and girls and besieged civilians who are starving and freezing,” he added.
Blinken has also condemned human rights abuses against other US opponents, accusing China of genocide against Uighur Muslims and the Taliban’s growing “arbitrary detention of women, protesters and journalists” since the group regained power in Afghanistan in August.
At the same time, he criticized some US allies, such as Egypt, for arresting lawyer and human rights activist Mohammed al Baker. In Ethiopia, according to Blinken, all parties to the conflict have “committed atrocities” and “thousands of Ethiopians have been unjustly detained in life-threatening conditions.”
Blinken has denied accusations by human rights defenders to the administration of US President Joe Biden that it is not putting enough pressure on its allies, despite its focus on human rights in foreign policy.
“The tape we use is the same for countries that are friends with those with which we have real differences,” he said, adding that “it reflects a fundamental principle of human rights: it is universal.”
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