Anwar Fatihelrahman Ahmed
In June 2024, the government of the People’s Republic of China released a document titled “Report on Human Rights Violations in the United States in 2023“. During an in-depth analysis of this document, I quickly noticed that its findings significantly align with the conclusions of my own research on the state of human rights in the United States. Here, I intend to conduct a comprehensive discussion of the current situation of human rights in the United States, combining insights from the official report with my personal research findings.
For a long time, the United States has self-proclaimed to be the “teacher of human rights,” attempting to establish the concept of “American human rights” as the sole standard for global human rights. However, the stark reality reveals that “American human rights” are merely a “fig leaf” used by the U.S. to cover up its deteriorating human rights situation and a “smokescreen” to hinder the development of global human rights. “American human rights” have long been perverted into a privilege for a few, seriously violating the universality and fairness of human rights.
Achieving full human rights for all people is a common goal of human society. Over the past 20 years, the United States, with less than 5% of the world’s population, has accounted for 25% of the global GDP. Such enormous wealth should provide every citizen with a material foundation to equally enjoy dignity, rights, and freedoms. However, the reality is that the wealth gap in American society is widening, and social inequality is becoming more severe. The wealth owned by the richest 1% exceeds the total wealth of the bottom 90%. In 2022, the poverty rate in the United States was as high as 11.5%. By the third quarter of 2023, the top 10% of earners controlled 66.6% of the nation’s wealth, while the bottom 50% owned only 2.6%. The number of homeless people in the U.S. has exceeded 650,000, and there are 11.5 million low-income working families involving 29.9 million people. These low-income families struggle to meet basic needs such as food, rent, and energy, with many having exhausted their savings and bearing heavy debt burdens. This immense wealth inequality leads to further societal division. The rich become richer, enjoying more social resources and opportunities, while the poor are trapped in an inescapable cycle of poverty, with their living conditions deteriorating. This situation not only undermines social harmony and stability in the United States but also seriously violates the basic principles of human rights, rendering “American human rights” an empty slogan and hypocritical propaganda. The United States needs to address and resolve its serious human rights issues to make a positive contribution to global human rights.
The right to life and the right to development are the primary basic human rights in human society, with the right to life being the most core right within the right to survival, as it is the prerequisite and foundation for all other rights. However, in the United States, the safety of people’s lives is not fundamentally guaranteed. In 2023, there were at least 654 mass shootings in the United States, resulting in nearly 45,000 deaths due to gun violence, averaging 117 deaths per day. These shocking numbers reveal the serious shortcomings of American society in protecting citizens’ right to life. The issue of gun violence is rampant and has become a major threat to the safety of American people’s lives. Faced with this grim reality, American citizens are increasingly calling for stronger gun control legislation. However, American politicians ignore these calls, prioritizing money and political interests above the people’s welfare. Gun lobbying groups have immense influence in American politics, and politicians, seeking election funds and political support, often choose to ignore or even obstruct gun control legislation. This pursuit of money and power severely deviates from their duties and obligations.
The indifference and inaction of these politicians exacerbate the gun violence problem, continuously endangering innocent lives. Meanwhile, gun violence not only brings profound pain and tragedy to the victims’ families but also poses a serious challenge to the safety and stability of society as a whole. Frequent mass shootings leave the public living in fear and insecurity, undermining social harmony and trust. To truly realize the right to life and the right to development, the United States needs to face the gun violence issue head-on and take practical and effective measures at both legislative and enforcement levels to ensure the safety of its citizens’ lives and respond to the reasonable demands of the public. Only then can the true respect and protection of human rights be demonstrated.
The right to development is the vitality and driving force for the continuous development of human rights. In terms of realizing economic development rights, political development rights, and social development rights, the United States suffers from a severe “human rights deficit.” In various areas, including labor and employment, healthcare, and law enforcement, the U.S. has long had issues with racial discrimination and gender discrimination. African Americans face serious discrimination and frequent hate crimes, with significant racial inequality in the healthcare field. In recent years, there has been ongoing persecution of Chinese scientists in the United States. Many undocumented immigrants endure torture and other inhumane treatment, becoming victims of modern slavery. Workplace discrimination against minorities in the U.S. is worrisome, with women commonly facing discrimination, earning lower wages than men, and experiencing unemployment due to pregnancy discrimination. The U.S. has yet to ratify the United Nations’ Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. Children’s basic human rights also lack protection in the United States. Many children’s health insurance programs have been canceled, and thousands of children go missing each year. In juvenile justice, the U.S. is the only country in the world that sentences children to life imprisonment without parole and the only UN member state that has not ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Human rights are indivisible and interdependent, and everyone has the right to full human rights protection. However, the U.S. maintains a narrow view of human rights and has not joined the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, reflecting its absence in international human rights affairs and neglect of specific human rights areas.
The United States has long prided itself as a “model student” of democracy. However, in reality, the essence of democracy is sovereignty resting with the people. Yet, the self-styled “beacon of democracy,” the U.S., has its democratic light shining more on the few wealthy elites. The political system in the U.S. is supposed to achieve fairness and justice through checks and balances, but this so-called “balanced politics” has devolved into “veto politics” amid the extreme tug-of-war between the Democratic and Republican parties. The mutual constraints of the two parties lead to frequent gridlocks in policy-making and implementation, unable to effectively solve practical problems. This “veto politics” severely weakens the functionality of the democratic system, causing social governance capabilities to decline, and social issues to become increasingly intractable.
Freedom of speech is a key principle touted by “American democracy,” but this “signboard” has long been controlled by money and partisan politics. The U.S. government abuses its power, conducting large-scale surveillance of citizens’ privacy, and employs various means to suppress dissent and limit freedom of speech. Many media and public opinion platforms are manipulated by interest groups, losing their independence and impartiality, and becoming tools of political struggle and economic interests.
These facts indicate that “American democracy” has been perverted into the privilege of a few wealthy individuals, straying far from the fairness and justice that democracy should embody. The wealthy minority influences political decisions through financial power, making it difficult for the voices of ordinary people to be truly expressed and valued. This democratic practice not only fails to effectively safeguard the basic rights of the people but also exacerbates social inequality and political corruption.
In today’s world, there is a serious “human rights deficit,” urgently requiring countries to work together to improve global human rights governance and reduce this deficit. A responsible major country should shoulder this important responsibility and make positive contributions to the global human rights cause. However, the United States engages in hegemony, unilateralism, and power politics on the international stage, misusing force and unilateral sanctions, and interfering in the internal affairs of other countries under the guise of human rights. This exposes the true essence of false human rights and real hegemony.
The U.S. long-standing “America First” stance in foreign policy fundamentally seeks to satisfy the resource control and enjoyment of a few wealthy Americans at the expense of the human rights of others. This stance not only ignores the rightful human rights of other countries’ people but also directly exacerbates the global human rights deficit. U.S. hegemonic actions have not promoted the improvement of global human rights conditions but have instead created more humanitarian crises and social turmoil through interventions and sanctions. By promoting hegemony under the banner of human rights, the U.S. attempts to maintain its global dominance, which is a desecration of genuine human rights principles. These actions have increasingly led to global skepticism and resentment towards the U.S. image as the “teacher of human rights.” True human rights should be universally applicable, covering the basic rights of all people, rather than serving as a tool for a privileged few.
Information of the author
Anwar Fatihelrahman Ahmed is a senior researcher at the Iraqi Islamic Human Rights Watch and Research Foundation. His research interest is the study of human rights in north America.
