The US pointed to Russia, Cuba, Nicaragua and China in its DHH report and mentioned the human consequences of Putin's “brutal war”

On Tuesday, the United States pointed to Russia, Cuba, Nicaragua and China in its annual report on human rights, in which it expressed concern about the torture, executions and repression that were allegedly perpetrated in those countries.

This document from the State Department, published today and relating to 2021, serves as a guide to the US Congress in determining what foreign aid is granted to each nation.

At a press conference, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned that in the last year Washington has seen a worsening human rights situation and a continuation of the rise of authoritarianism in many parts of the world.

He added that “in few places have the human consequences (of that worsening) been as harsh as in the brutal war of the Russian government in Ukraine.”

RUSSIA

The Secretary of State stressed that, as Russian troops withdraw from the Ukrainian cities they had occupied or besieged, the “widespread atrocities” of Russian forces are coming to light.

He cited the testimony of women and girls who have been raped, as well as bombed civilian infrastructure, such as a theater and a train station.

In this regard, in the Ukrainian chapter, the State Department accused the Moscow-backed forces of perpetrating “widespread” violent acts against civilians in the Donbas region in 2021, where the Kremlin has been supporting pro-Russian militias since 2014.

Russia began an invasion of Ukraine on February 24 with the excuse of helping the people of the Donbas and, since then, the war has left thousands dead, more than four million refugees and some seven million internally displaced persons, according to the United Nations.

CUBA

On the other hand, in the section dedicated to Cuba, the report recalls that in July last year there were “the biggest protests in decades” to “demand an end to repression” and recalled that many protesters were arrested and imprisoned in “cruel” conditions, while others had to go into exile.

“Government officials, under the orders of their superiors, committed the greatest violations of human rights,” the State Department stated in its report.

NICARAGUA

On Nicaragua, the US highlighted that President Daniel Ortega “won a fourth consecutive term” in the November elections after “arbitrarily imprisoning nearly 40 opposition figures.”

In addition, he explained that the country's administration continues to fail to investigate or prosecute the authorities who commit human rights violations, including “the 355 murders and hundreds of disappearances” during the 2018 protests.

CHINA

With regard to China, the State Department denounced arbitrary killings by the Chinese Government, as well as enforced disappearances, cases of torture and mass detention of minorities.

In the case of Spain, the report talks about the excessive use of force by security forces in protests such as those in Catalonia over the arrest and conviction of rapper Pablo Hasel for exalting terrorism and insulting the crown and cites other episodes, such as a police assault in Linares that also provoked protests.

The State Department's annual report examines the human rights situation in some 198 countries and territories of the world, although not in the United States.

(With information from EFE)

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