US criticized for serious human rights abuses

Human rights abuses by the United States were exposed twice in the last few weeks. Washington denied the first criticism and ignored the second one. Not a good example from the “leader of the free world.”

On Thursday, March 13, the United Nation’s Human Rights Committee in Geneva, criticized USA for a long list of human rights abuses, including: detention without charge at Guantanamo, drone strikes, NSA surveillance, the death penalty, rampant gun violence and endemic racial inequality.

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To make things worst, on March 22 Human Rights Watch, an organization based in New York, published a list of US human rights violations which looks somehow similar to the UN list.

Not the first time the US is criticized

This isn’t the first time the UN Human Rights Committee criticizes the USA, however the news usually doesn’t get to US media. And this doesn’t stop Washington from preaching democracy and moral values to the world. The report, repeated every five years, is a voluntarily review, and the US will face no penalties.

The report raised questions about the National Security Agency’s (NSA) surveillance of digital communications. It also called for declassification and release of the 6,300-page report into the Bush administration’s use of torture techniques post 9-11.

This is a very sensitive issue, with Washington denying any wrongdoing. Nevertheless, European media reports based on testimonies and other sources implied US was involved in kidnapping of suspected “terrorists” living in Europe and shipping them to “friendly” countries —like Egypt— where they could be tortured in search of confessions.

These activities were conducted by CIA operators and with the complicity of several countries, including Germany, Italy and Spain.

The report also highlighted the Obama administration’s failure to prosecute any of the officials responsible for permitting waterboarding and other “enhanced interrogation” techniques under the previous administration.

SEE ALSO: HRW condemns solitary confinement of detained immigrants

Lets remember that candidate Obama criticized torture during his presidential campaign in 2008 and promised to do things better if elected.

The UN committee attacked the US government’s refusal to recognize the convention’s mandate over its actions beyond its own borders. The US insists that international agreements does not apply to US actions beyond its borders – and has used that “extra-territoriality” claim to justify its actions in Guantanamo and in conflict zones.

One member of the UN Committee was particularly hard on USA when it came to talk about racism and incarceration.

Regarding the disproportional representation of African Americans on death rows, he stated: “Discrimination is bad, but it is absolutely unacceptable when it leads to death.”

It was also mentioned the negative impact of American’s passion for guns: 470,000 crimes committed with firearms each year, including about 11,000 homicides.

Other issues that came under the committee’s criticism

· The proliferation of stand-your-ground gun laws

· Enduring racial disparities in the justice system, including large numbers of black prisoners serving longer sentences than whites;

· Mistreatment of mentally-ill and juvenile prisoners;

· Segregation in schools;

· High levels of homelessness and criminalization of homeless people;

· Racial profiling by police, including the mass surveillance of Muslim communities by the New York police department.