News / China

China denounces US human rights record

Friday, 26 June 2015 7:45 AM [ Last Update: Friday, 26 June 2015 7:55 AM ]

A demonstrator talks with police in Baltimore, Maryland, April 28, 2015, one day after violence and looting erupted following the funeral of 25-year-old African-American man Freddie Gray, who died after suffering severe spinal injuries during a police arrest. (AFP Photo)

China has released a report on a "terrible human rights record" in the United States, denouncing the country for its overseas drone attacks, state-sponsored spying, police brutality and gun crimes.

The report, which was issued by China's State Council on Friday, said that the US is being "haunted by spreading guns, frequent occurrence of violent crimes, [and] the excessive use of force by police."

The report added that Washington has been “violating human rights in other countries" with drone strikes and mass surveillance programs” in recent years.

US intelligence has been using "indiscriminate" torture against terrorist suspects following the September 11th attacks in 2001, it noted.

Highlighting police killings of several unarmed black men, which has sparked protests over the past year across various American cities, the report emphasizes that the US justice system suffers from "serious racial bias" and discrimination against people of color.

Protesters against police violence march in Manhattan on April 14, 2015 in New York City. (AFP Photo)

The report also pointed out that American administration and institutions continue to be plagued by the "grim problems of racial discrimination, and institutional discrimination against ethnic minorities."

The report comes a day after the United States issued a similar report criticizing China’s rights record.

According to leaked top secret US government spying programs by former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and NSA have been eavesdropping on millions of American and European phone records and Internet data from major Internet companies.

The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has also been launching drone strikes in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, and Yemen, saying the airstrikes target Taliban and al-Qaeda-linked militants in those countries. Yet, official figures show that most of the victims were civilians.

This June 13, 2010 file photo shows a US Predator unmanned drone armed with a missile on the tarmac of Kandahar military airport in Afghanistan. (AFP photo)

In recent years, several videos have emerged showing American police assaulting teenagers and women in various parts of the country.

Gun violence across the US has also been under the spotlight, especially after a shooter killed 20 first-grade school children and six staff members using an assault rifle in a rampage at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, on December 14, 2012.