The Hindu : U.S. views on rights a sham, says China

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Apr 04, 2003

International

International

U.S. views on rights a sham, says China

By P. S. Suryanarayana

SINGAPORE April 3. China today denounced the U.S. for causing "serious humanitarian disasters'' during its ongoing war in Iraq in violation of the United Nations Charter. An impassioned condemnation of Washington's war-time conduct forms the centre piece of the Chinese Government's critique on the human rights record in the U.S.

Seeking once again to turn the tables on Washington over its tendency to sit in judgment over the alleged human rights violations by other countries, China lambasted the U.S. for its conduct of the military campaign in 2003, though Beijing's tit-for-tat document was more time-specific about last year.

Noting that the U.S. "is following unilateralism in international affairs'', China alleged that Washington "has frequently committed blunt violations of human rights in other countries''. China said that the U.S., acting in concert with a few other countries, had now gone to war in Iraq regardless of the international community's strong call against such military action.

Underlining that this war had already "caused casualties of innocent Iraqi civilians and serious humanitarian disasters'', China turned the spotlight on the U.S. air attacks against the Taliban regime in Afghanistan in 2002.

The U.S. troops, according to Beijing's survey, ``dropped nearly a quarter-million cluster bomblets and raided a number of non-military targets, causing heavy civilian casualties'' in Afghanistan. Also criticised in the Afghan context was the U.S.' treatment of those taken into custody and transported to Guantanamo Bay for detention and interrogation.

Taking a close look at Washington's conduct in other countries, China said that "hundreds of thousands of U.S. troops are stationed overseas'' and that "such troops have committed crimes and human rights abuses wherever they stay''.

About America's domestic human rights record, China classified Washington's alleged violations according to their severity. China cited the violations as a reflection of an "ineffective protection of life and (ineffective) security of person''. America's alleged "money-driven democracy'' was also taken note of, while the "poverty, hunger and homelessness'' of Americans were also touched upon as critical aspects of human rights abuses.

The "deep-rooted racial discrimination'' within the U.S. and Washington's "double standard'' in the field of human rights were also flayed by China.

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