Russia was committing atrocities in Ukraine even before the war

An annual human rights report by the US state department contends that authoritarianism around the world is threatening human rights and democracy, most strikingly as Russia continues its attack on Ukraine.

Painting a picture of deteriorating human rights globally, the report for 2021 — before Russia’s February invasion — says Russian-led forces in the Donbas region of Ukraine engaged “in unlawful or widespread civilian harm, enforced disappearances or abductions and torture and physical abuses or punishment”. Russia has denied committing such abuses.

Speaking at a news briefing as the report was released on Tuesday, US secretary of state Antony Blinken said worse atrocities may yet unfold in Ukraine as Russian forces push to take Mariupol.

“We have credible information that Russian forces may use a variety of riot control agents” to weaken and incapacitate Ukrainian fighters and civilians as part of campaign to take the besieged city, he said. Like other US officials, he said he couldn’t confirm allegations that chemical agents have been used by Russia in Ukraine.

Allegations that Russian president Vladimir Putin’s forces committed war crimes intensified last week amid outrage at the large numbers of casualties in towns surrounding Kyiv as Russian forces withdrew to fight elsewhere, leaving grim scenes of civilian bodies in the streets.

The 2021 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices didn’t spare other nations, including Ukraine. It cited what it called credible reports of unlawful or arbitrary killings and torture in Ukraine.

Though US president Joe Biden’s administration has focused on efforts to unite the world against Russia in recent months, the report also signalled continued tensions with China.

The [Chinese] government engaged in arbitrary imprisonment, forced sterilisation, 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 labour.

—  US state department

It reaffirmed US charges that China is 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 sterilisation, 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 labour.

“Government officials and the security services often committed human rights abuses with impunity,” the state department said. “Authorities often announced investigations following cases of reported killings by police, but did not announce results or findings of police malfeasance or disciplinary action.” China has denied such allegations and countered by criticising the US on issues including civil rights.

The report found 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. It said peaceful protesters who try to push for change in places like Cuba, Belarus, Hong Kong and Sudan suffer abuses by authorities to quell calls for democracy. 

Among other nations criticised in the report are:

• Saudi Arabia. In several cases, it asserted, “the government did not investigate, prosecute or punish officials accused of committing human rights abuses, contributing to an environment of impunity”. The state department cited media reports that at least three of the individuals convicted in connection with the killing of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi were seen living in luxury villas in a government compound near Riyadh.
• Mexico. Disappearances remained a persistent problem throughout the country, especially in areas with high levels of cartel- or gang-related violence, according to the report. It cited numerous allegations of forced disappearances linked to organised crime groups, sometimes with alleged state collusion. Investigations, prosecutions and convictions for the crime of forced disappearance were rare.
• Afghanistan. After taking control of the country senior Taliban leaders announced a general amnesty that prohibited reprisals, but credible reports were received of retaliatory acts, including extrajudicial killings and forced disappearances, the report said. It also described a grim situation for women and girls. For example, it said in September Taliban gunmen entered a women’s shelter in Kabul by force and told the shelter operator they would return married shelter residents to their abusers and marry the single residents to Taliban soldiers.

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— Bloomberg