BEIJING, June 4, 2024 -- Human rights are undoubtedly an important benchmark for measuring the civilization and progress of a nation. Yet it is a hard fact that the United States -- the world's most developed country -- is a serious underperformer on human rights due to its grave domestic problems and the humanitarian crises created by its hegemonic actions.

 

From systemic racial injustices to glaring gaps in healthcare access and rampant gun violence, the human rights situation in the United States continued to deteriorate in 2023, according to a report on human rights violations in the United States in 2023, released by the State Council Information Office of China on Wednesday.

 

The governance failures on protecting civil rights are exemplified by daunting figures: the killings of approximately 43,000 people in gun violence and at least 1,247 deaths attributed to police violence last year, according to the report.

 

Racial discrimination has always been a persistent plague in American society. Ethnic minorities in the United States face systematic, persistent and comprehensive racial discrimination. Due to significant racial discrimination in the healthcare sector, the maternal mortality rate for African American women is nearly three times that of white women.

 

The intensification of injustice, inequality and violence demonstrates that human rights are increasingly polarized in the United States, essentially becoming a privilege enjoyed by a few. The majority of ordinary people are increasingly marginalized, with their basic rights and freedoms being disregarded.

 

On the international stage, the United States frequently positions itself as a defender of human rights and criticizes the human rights records of other nations. Yet numerous facts indicate that it has played a major role in creating humanitarian disasters and crises in many countries.

 

A research report released in May 2023 by Brown University's "Costs of War" project website reveals that in the theaters of war where the United States conducted overseas "counter-terrorism" operations following the 9/11 attacks, the total death toll ranges from at least 4.5 to 4.7 million people.

 

As a major underperformer on human rights, the United States should engage in profound self-reflection, face its urgent and worsening human rights violations squarely and take effective measures to address them, experts say.