US Needs To Look Closer At Claims Of Human Rights Abuses – OpEd

US secretary of state Anthony Blinken said his country was monitoring “a rise in human rights abuses in India by some officials”. He said this at a joint news conference after the 2+2 dialogue was addressed by Blinken, Jaishankar, defence minister Rajnath Singh and US defence secretary Lloyd Austin. Later the US has also released its annual Country Reports on HR Practices wherein it is critical of India’s HR practices. However,human rights (HR) was not on the agenda of discussion and it was uncalled for that Blinken should have mentioned during the joint news conference. US want to take along the West and the democratic nations but with an Autocratic authority instead of a diplomatic friendly trust and interdependence approach.

External Affairs Minister of India Dr S Jaishankar has reacted and said, “Look, people are entitled to have views about us. But we are also equally entitled to have views about their views and about the interests, and the lobbies and the vote banks which drive that. So, whenever there is a discussion, I can tell you that we will not be reticent about speaking out.” The Union government has asserted that India has well-established democratic practices and robust institutions to safeguard the rights of all. The government has emphasised that the Indian Constitution provides for adequate safeguards under various statutes for ensuring the protection of HR.

The US state department released its annual Country Reports on HR Practices, the India section of which said:

“Despite government efforts to address abuses and corruption, a lack of accountability for official misconduct persisted at all levels of government, contributing to widespread impunity. Investigations and prosecutions of individual cases took place, but lax enforcement, a shortage of trained police officers, and an overburdened and under resourced court system contributed to a low number of convictions.”

The US is trying to perform the role of a ‘Global policeman’ which seeks ‘Global Hegemony’ and the right to intervene in other nations. US is the self-styled ‘Guardian of HR’, it is necessary to probe into the HR abuses in the US.  There is a common saying that “People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones” means that people who have faults within should not criticize other people for having the same faults. USis trying to perform the role of the UN. 

China to counter and answer the US state department annual Country Reports on HR Practices has started issuing their own report on the US. US itself has a record of multitude number of cases to show the serious violations of HR both in and outside the United States. The report is divided into seven parts: on life and security of person, on infringements upon HR by law enforcement and judicial organs, on political rights and freedom, on economic, social and cultural rights, on racial discrimination, on rights of women and children and on the US violation of HR in other countries:

• The US is a multi-ethnic nation of immigrants, with minority ethnic groups accounting for more than one-fourth of its population. But racial discrimination still continues.
• The US government grossly violates the sovereignty and HR of other countries in contempt of universally-recognized international norms in its war efforts and military operations in other countries.
• The US Global War on Terror (GWOT) has killed millions of people. Since the 21st century, the US has launched a series of global foreign military operations in the name of anti-terrorism, resulting in nearly one million deaths.

America’s Gun Culture Deaths

More Americans died of gun-related injuries in 2020 than in any other year on record, according to recently published statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In 2020 itself 45,222 people died from gun-related injuries in the US according to the CDC. Figures seem to be beyond imagination to be believed to be authentic. India has fought insurgencies and terrorism and continues to do so but the casualties over the years will be much lower and US lectures the world on HR violations.

US Changed Priorities

The Barack Obama administration had envisioned  a stable and diversified security order “in which countries pursue their national objectives peacefully and in accordance with international law and shared norms and principles including the peaceful resolution of disputes”. The Donald Trump administration ‘America First’ and  started a ‘Trade War’ with China. This was the time when New Delhi underlined the importance of ensuring peace and progress in the Indo-Pacific region and free, open and inclusive maritime order.

Sadly the Biden administration has revived the Cold War era by upgrading Russia as ‘enemy number one’ and relegating the “not-so-peaceful’ rise of China to the background. This approach of the White House clearly indicates the changed priorities of the Biden administration. The US appears to have given up its resolve to carry on building a network of like-minded countries to ensure a rule-based regional and global order.

The US government should stop provoking international confrontation on the issue of HR. The world urges the US to look within its own issues before issuing sermons and imposing standards on other countries. UN once again has failed to stop this uncalled for avoidable war and having failed to stop has made no serious efforts to resolve the crisis to bring an early end to the ongoing Ukraine-Russia war. UN suspending Russia from the UNHRC does in no way help to end the Ukraine war.

Reference:

The Chinese : Report on Human Rights Violations in the US  in 2020