Authoritarianism around the world is threatening human rights and democracy, most strikingly as Russia continues its attack on Ukraine.
This was stated by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, presenting the annual report on human rights of the U.S. State Department, according to Bloomberg.
The report for 2021 says that russian-led forces in Donbas region engaged “in unlawful or widespread civilian harm, enforced disappearances or abductions and torture and physical abuses or punishment”.
The report also contains allegations against China committing “genocide and crimes against humanity” with regard to predominantly Muslim Uyghurs and members of other ethnic and religious minority groups in the Xinjiang region. The government engaged in arbitrary imprisonment, forced sterilization, coerced abortions, and more restrictive application of the country’s birth-control policies, according to the report. It said other crimes against the Uyghurs included rape, torture, and forced labor.
There was reported that the jailing and torturing of activists, human rights defenders, and journalists is rampant and continues unabated across the world in countries including Russia, China, North Korea, Nicaragua, and Syria. The report said that peaceful protesters who try to push for change in places like Cuba, Belarus, Hong Kong, and Sudan suffer from abuses by the authorities in order to quell calls for democracy.
According to Antony Blinken, the global attack on human rights is particularly evident in russia's war against Ukraine.
"This is especially obvious during recent weeks, as russian troops have been driven out from the cities they occupied or surrounded, and there is evidence of their widespread atrocities," - he said. - We see what this retreating influx leaves behind. Bodies with hands tied were left on the streets. Theaters, railway stations, and apartment buildings were destroyed with civilians inside. We hear this in the testimonies of raped women and girls, as well as in the supplications of civilians who died of starvation and froze".
As of April 12, bodies of 403 civilians killed by russian troops during the occupation were found in Bucha, Kyiv Region".