The US government warned of one ongoing “regression” of human rights in the worldin an annual report published this Monday, pointing the finger at Iran, China, Afghanistan and the “authoritarian” governments of Nicaragua and Cuba.

In Nicaragua “the authoritarian government” of President Daniel Ortega “detains and detains political prisoners in appalling prison conditionssaid US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at a news conference.

The report accuses the Nicaraguan government of “failing to take steps to identify, investigate, prosecute or punish officials who have committed human rights abuses. including those responsible for at least 355 murders and hundreds of disappearancesafter the 2018 protests.

Ortega “enhanced impunity” for those who violate human rights if they were “loyal” to him, he adds.

Cuba, described as an “authoritarian state”, also fares poorly in this report whose purpose, according to Blinken, “is not to preach or embarrass.”

In this country, “the courts have handed down draconian prison sentences to hundreds of people for standing up for their rights,” denounced the head of US diplomacy.

Washington finds “numerous abuses” on the Caribbean island of Axis “unlawful or arbitrary executions”“torture and cruel treatment” of political dissidents and prisoners.

On July 11, 2021, thousands of people took to the streets in hundreds of cities in Cuba for protests that, according to various NGOs, resulted in one death, dozens injured and more than a thousand detained.

At least 490 protesters were sentenced, some to 25 years in prison, according to official figures.

allies and rivals

The report analyzes the situation in nearly 200 countries and territories and “applies the same standards to everyone, to our allies and partners and to countries with which we have differences of opinion,” Blinken said.

In 2022 “we continue to see a backlash in the human rights situationin countries of all regions, laments the United States.

And among the bad students is Iran, whose regime has been committing “flagrant and ongoing abuses” against “its own people” after the young woman’s death in September. Mahsa Amini after being detained by the vice squad.

“The authorities have killed hundreds of peaceful protesters, including dozens of children, and arbitrarily detained thousands,” Blinken denounced, assuring that “torture and gender-based violence are being used against the detained protesters.”

In Afghanistan, where the United States withdrew its troops in August 2021, the Taliban ruthlessly discriminate against and oppress women and girls restricting their freedom of movement and the right to education and work, the Secretary of State protested.

Human rights are also being “further eroded” in Burma, where “the military regime mistreats pro-democracy leaders and activists,” he said.

China is often the target of US criticism in these reports. This time, he accuses him of “genocide and crimes against humanity” for the oppression of the Uighurs, a minority in Xinjiang province. He also denounces the situation in Tibet and Hong Kong.

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“war crimes”

Russia, which “launched a large-scale invasion” against Ukraine in February 2022, has committed “numerous war crimes and other atrocities and abuses”, such as “summary executions, torture, rape, indiscriminate attacks and deliberately targeted attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure”, the report states.

Blinken also denounced war crimes in Ethiopia by rebels and Ethiopian and Eritrean troops during the two-year war that was ended by a peace deal last November.

Many of these actions were not random or just a by-product of the war. They were calculated and deliberatehe claimed.

Blinken believed that the United States should also sing the mea culpa.

“While this report looks at countries around the world, we know that the United States faces its own set of human rights challenges,” he said.