Human rights in the United States

There have been many allegations of human rights violations in the United States, some from human rights groups like Amnesty International, others from foreign governments.

After the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks, pressure from the government of the United States for more surveillance of the general population has led to criticism of the government's violation of citizens' privacy and of control measures that do not respect prisoner dignity.

Table of contents

1 Amnesty International assessment of the human rights record of the United States 2 China's assessment of the human rights record of the United States 3 External links

Amnesty International assessment of the human rights record of the United States

Amnesty International states for the year 2000:

Police brutality, disputed shootings and ill-treatment in prisons and jails were reported. In May the U.N. Committee against Torture considered the initial report of the USA on implementation of the U.N. Convention against Torture. Eighty-five prisoners were executed in 14 states bringing to 683 the total number of people executed since 1976. Those executed included individuals who were children under 18 at the time of their crimes, and the mentally impaired.

Many people in the USA disagree with the UN and Amnesty International assessment, although there is considerable opposition to capital punishment from within the USA. Some of the reasons given by those who disagree with various aspects: they do not consider execution to be torture (especially since it is usually administered via lethal injection), they do not accept low intelligence quotient as an excuse for capital crimes, and they feel that some older teenagers should be tried as adults due to the nature of the offense. Not all US citizens who support execution share all of these views.

China's assessment of the human rights record of the United States

On March 11 2002, the Information Office of the State Council of the People's Republic of China published a document entitled "Human Rights Record of the United States in 2001". On February 27, 2001, it had published a report for the year 2000. The reports are a scathing attack on the state of human rights in the United States and have been published subsequently to the "Country Reports on Human Rights Practices" for China by the United States Department of State, which both reports cite in the first paragraph.

The documents attempt to blunt U.S. criticism of the PRC by pointing out both perceived violations of rights and social problems such as crime and poverty. The reports do not significantly criticize the United States for violating freedom of speech or freedom of the press. They do charge that the United States political system is undemocratic (citing the 2000 US presidential election as an example), that the justice system is racially biased and excessive, that workers have little protection against corporate abuse, and that the US "sabotage the world's peace and stability" through international military actions. They further detail the economic and social situation of the US and describe it as a human rights violation, thereby using an expanded definition of human rights.

See also: Human rights in China

External links

• Current US-related reports from Amnesty International
• "Human Rights Record of the United States in 2001" (Information Office of the State Council of the People's Republic of China)
• US Human Rights Record in 2000
• China section of "Country Reports on Human Rights Practices -- 2001" (United States Department of State)