March 03, 2005
Do we have the right to complain about Human Rights?
The US Department of State anually publishes a "Country Reports on Human Rights Practices", pointing out those countries that have poor Human Rights practices and/or environments. See the 2004 report here. Interestingly, the report does not include the United States as one the countries being reported. I wonder why that is, expecially considering that the US Department of State "also included reports on several countries that do not fall into the categories established by these statutes and that thus are not covered by the congressional requirement;" so they obviously have the freedom to choose any country they like. As we ought to be setting the example for the world, our own performance should be measured by the same yardstick as the US Department of State uses for the rest of the world.
Since they are not willing to do that, the effort naturally falls upon another country. China has taken up the challenge for the past six years, and the picture they paint of our Human Rights performance is not very good. This year, using information available to anyone from various news and government sources, the China State Council assembled "The Human Rights Record of the United States in 2004." There is a news story summarizing the findings here, and the full text of the China State Council's report is here.
I've always considered it rude to point out someone else's faults when I have the very same faults; if I wanted respect, it would be necessary to admit my own faults first and then lead by example. Obviously, chivalry is dead when it comes to Human Rights.
Posted by Michael at March 3, 2005 12:53 PM | World
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Posted by: Anonymous at March 3, 2005 12:53 PM
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