State Dept. report revels human rights abuses in Ukraine | Eastern NC Now

Submitted by The Space Worm Substack

The Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (a branch within the US State Department) releases annual ‘Human Rights Reports’ on 194 different countries around the globe. Their 2021 report for Ukraine was released in April of this year. Despite its relevance to whether US intervention in the RU-UA war is merited, the report received zero media coverage.

The report highlights “serious abuses” in the Donbas region citing multiple sources:

“International organizations and NGOs, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the HRMMU, issued periodic reports documenting abuses committed in the Donbas region on both sides of the line of contact.”

Here are major examples of ‘significant human rights issues’ listed by the bureau:

• unlawful or arbitrary killings, including extrajudicial killings by the government or its agents

• torture and cases of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment of detainees by law enforcement personnel 

• harsh and life-threatening prison conditions

• arbitrary arrest or detention 

• serious problems with the independence of the judiciary

• serious restrictions on free expression and media, including violence or threats of violence against journalists, unjustified arrests or prosecutions of journalists, and censorship

• serious restrictions on internet freedom 

• refoulement of refugees to a country where they would face a threat to their life or freedom 

• serious acts of government corruption

• lack of investigation of and accountability for gender-based violence

• crimes, violence, or threats of violence motivated by anti-Semitism

• crimes involving violence or threats of violence targeting persons with disabilities, members of ethnic minority groups, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or intersex persons 

• the existence of the worst forms of child labor.

Comparing this to the State Department’s report on Russia, we find their assessment to be nearly identical (see screenshot below):

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/state-department-report-reveals-human-rights-abuses-ukraine