Human rights issues in the United States

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

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 UN Committee against Torture considered the initial report of the USA on implementation of the UN 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.

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 China 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.

External links

• Current US-related reports from Amnesty International (http://web.amnesty.org/library/eng-usa/index)
• "Human Rights Record of the United States in 2001" (http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/26488) (Information Office of the State Council of the People's Republic of China)
• US Human Rights Record in 2000 (http://www.fas.org/irp/news/2001/03/china-rights), previous report
• China section of "Country Reports on Human Rights Practices -- 2001" (http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2001/eap/8289.htm) (United States Department of State)