Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, June 11th—The China Human Rights Research Association published the article "New Coronary Pneumonia Epidemic Highlights the Crisis of "American Human Rights"" on the 11th. The full text is as follows:

New Coronary Pneumonia Epidemic Highlights "American Human Rights" Crisis

　　China Human Rights Research Association

　　June 2020

　　The sudden new coronary pneumonia epidemic is the most serious global public health emergency that humanity has experienced since the end of the Second World War, and it is also a "human rights test" facing all countries in the world. The virus has no borders, and the disease does not distinguish between races. Scientifically adopting epidemic prevention and control measures and making every effort to protect people's lives and health are the human rights responsibilities shared by governments of all countries. However, the US government’s self-interested shortsighted, inefficient and irresponsible response to the epidemic has not only caused the tragedy of about 2 million Americans infected with the virus and more than 110,000 deaths, but also caused a long-term social tear in the United States. Issues such as polarization between the rich and the poor, racial discrimination, and inadequate protection of the rights and interests of vulnerable groups have been fully exposed and continued to deteriorate, causing the American people to fall into a serious human rights disaster.

1. The US government's ineffective response to the epidemic has led to human rights disasters

　　The United States Federal Government is very stubborn, slack, and self-righteous about the prevention and control of the epidemic. It was not until March 13, 2020 that the United States was declared a state of emergency due to the epidemic, and it cost the lives of tens of thousands of people. The epidemic statistics released by Johns Hopkins University in the United States show that as of June 9, Eastern Time, the cumulative number of confirmed cases of new coronary pneumonia infection in the United States has reached 1971302 cases, and the cumulative number of deaths has reached 111620 cases. Both data are significantly higher than Other countries or regions. This is undoubtedly a sad irony for the United States, which has the strongest global economic and technological strength and the most abundant medical resources.

　　Ignore the early warning of the epidemic. According to the timeline of the US epidemic recaptured in April 2020 by the New York Times and the Washington Post, the US government has repeatedly ignored the epidemic warning and neglected to take preventive and control measures. The National Security Council of the White House received intelligence in early January, predicting that the virus will spread in the United States. Peter Navarro, director of the White House Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy, wrote in a memo on January 29 detailing the potential risks of the outbreak: as many as 500,000 people could die and cause trillions of dollars Economic losses. Health officials and medical experts such as Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services Alex Aza have also repeatedly warned of the danger of the outbreak in the United States. But the US government not only ignored the warnings, but also focused on controlling the dissemination of information, restricting medical experts to release epidemic information to the public, and even publishing false information to mislead the public, calling the new crown virus "large influenza", the risk of infection and mortality "Very low", the epidemic will soon "miraclely disappear", causing the "golden window period" of prevention and control of the epidemic to be wasted. What's more, many members of Congress, including Richard Burr, who was the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee of the US Congress, were also involved in insider trading scandals-they used their positions to understand the serious situation of the epidemic earlier, but one side To downplay the risk of the epidemic to the public, while dumping a lot of stocks before the epidemic triggered a stock market crash, staged a "perfect" risk aversion.

　　Prioritize capital interests. The New York Times website reported on April 13, 2020 that the White House New Corona Virus Response Working Group and the National Security Council collaborated on February 14 to prepare a memorandum titled "U.S. Government Response to 2019 New Coronavirus" Among them, it is clearly recommended to adopt strict epidemic control measures including "substantially restrict the scale of public meetings, cancel almost all sports events and performances, cancel public and private meetings that cannot be held by telephone, and consider school suspension". However, the decision-makers immediately rejected the memo after hearing that the relevant measures would lead to the collapse of the US stock market. It can be seen that the U.S. government has prioritized the value of capital and the interests of the people in the anti-epidemic decision. Instead of putting the people’s right to life and health in the first place, it has prioritized the response of the capital market, leading the government to The public has made effective warnings and failed to prepare for the potential consumption of medical resources brought about by the pandemic, pushing the American people to the brink of infection and death.

　　Politicize the anti-epidemic problem. After the outbreak of the epidemic in the United States, some American politicians do not regard protecting the lives and health of their people as their top priority, but instead use the epidemic as a weapon to attack political opponents and seek election benefits. The authoritative medical journal "The Lancet" website published a rare editorial on May 16, pointing directly to the intervention of political parties in the public health field in the United States. The role of the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control in the United States has been repeatedly weakened. Basic medical and anti-epidemic measures such as tracing and quarantine instead place hopes on "magic bullets"-including vaccines, new drugs, and even hope that the virus will eventually "magically disappear." The famous American political scientist Francis Fukuyama published the article "The Cost of American Political Decay" on the "National Interest" website on May 4th, pointing out that the highly polarized party politics makes the political checks and balances system an insurmountable obstacle to decision-making; the epidemic should have been Become an opportunity to put aside differences and show unity, but further deepen political polarization. Politicians view the epidemic as an opportunity to seize power and partisan interests, and this comes at the cost of the lives of countless ordinary American citizens.

　　Leading to catastrophic consequences. The New York Times website reported on May 20, 2020 that research by Columbia University in the United States showed that delays in U.S. action restrictions have caused at least 36,000 people to die: if the U.S. government implements action restrictions a week in advance, it can save an additional 36,000 Human life; and if the US government began to implement action restrictions two weeks in advance, 83% of patients in the United States who died of new coronavirus will be spared. The New York Times even listed the names, ages, and identities of the 1,000 new coronary pneumonia deceased on the front page unprecedentedly on May 24, and wrote in the lead: "The 1,000 people listed here account for only 1 of the total number of deceased. %. They are not only names, they were one of us." "Time" weekly website reported on May 20, the United States delayed the adoption of social alienation policy led to 90% of the deaths of the new crown, paying so many lives In essence, it is the failure of American democracy.

2. Inequality in American society was exposed in the epidemic

　　In the United States, both liberal and conservative scholars agree on the basic fact that there is serious inequality in American society. The deep-seated system of inequality is that the US government and political parties have long been manipulated and captured by interest groups, unable to formulate and implement tax, industrial, and social security policies that promote social equity. Faced with the epidemic, inequality in American society in terms of class and economy has been further exposed and exacerbated.

　　Powerful people get special treatment for virus detection. Viral infections are rich and poor, but limited testing and medical resources cannot be fairly allocated in the United States. The New York Times website reported on March 19, 2020 that many dignitaries in the United States underwent virus testing in a state of lack of testing equipment and without symptoms of infection. Emergency doctor Uche Blackstock said frustratedly: "(Doctor) has to give the patient a new crest virus test quota, and must wait 5 to 7 days to get results; but celebrities can easily test and quickly take To the result". This obvious injustice has made the public increasingly questioned: When medical staff and many patients cannot be diagnosed, whether the privileged class obtains priority testing by virtue of privilege means that the ordinary people are deprived of testing opportunities. The British "Guardian" website published a March 21 article, "When the Titanic hit the iceberg and sank, women and children were first protected and rescued; but in the face of the new crown virus, the United States is the first to be rescued by the rich and powerful groups." The “gap between rich and poor” in the detection of new coronavirus in the United States highlights the delay, confusion and injustice of its epidemic prevention and control system.

　　The people at the bottom face a more dangerous situation. The epidemic has made the living conditions of the people at the bottom of the United States more and more difficult, and has further deepened the social polarization between rich and poor. According to a CBS report in 2019, nearly 40% of Americans cannot afford $400 in unexpected expenses, and 25% of Americans have to give up necessary treatment because they cannot afford medical expenses. The Atlantic Monthly website of the United States reported in April 2020 that after low-income people in the United States became ill, they "usually delay seeing a doctor, not because they do not want to recover, but because they have no money at all." In the face of the New Coronary Pneumonia epidemic, tens of millions of people in the United States do not have medical insurance, but the New Coronary Pneumonia intensive care costs are as high as tens of thousands of dollars. "Survival or destruction" is not just a philosophy of life in literary works, but also a realistic choice faced by the American people at the bottom. Russian TV Today reported on April 30 that a Gallup survey revealed that one in seven American adults said that if they or their family members develop symptoms related to new coronary pneumonia, they will give up because they are afraid they can’t afford treatment. treatment. Philip Allston, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights, pointed out on April 16 that the poor in the United States are being "most seriously hit" by the New Coronavirus. "Due to long-term neglect and discrimination, low-income and poor people are facing more There is a high risk of being corroded by coronaviruses, and a chaotic, corporate-focused federal response has not fully taken care of their interests."

　　The high unemployment rate puts the working class into a crisis of survival. According to the data released by the US Department of Labor on May 28, 2020, the cumulative number of first-time jobless claims in the United States from March 15 to May 23 reached 40.8 million. In the face of the high unemployment rate brought about by the epidemic, due to the long-term differentiation of the rich and the poor and structural discrimination, the ability of the American working class to resist risks has greatly diminished. Vox News reported on April 10 that "from the catering industry, tourism to the media industry, the entire US economy has felt the impact of (the epidemic). But like the other impacts of the crisis, those are already the most Vulnerable groups will also bear the brunt of the economic impact." "The people most vulnerable to layoffs during this time are those with the lowest salaries, such as low-wage workers in the catering and retail industries." According to the investigation report released by the American National Restaurant Association on April 20, affected by the epidemic, two-thirds of restaurant workers (approximately 8 million people) have been dismissed or taken vacations due to restaurant closures. Although the US government has also launched a “salary protection plan” aimed at assisting small and medium-sized enterprises, some large companies with sufficient funds have taken advantage of rule loopholes to take advantage of huge loans, and some small businesses and small shops that urgently need loan “renewal” But he couldn't get help. The above survey report shows that at least 60% of operators said that the existing federal government relief plan will not allow them to reduce layoffs. It can be seen that the working class of the United States experienced the pain of the economic recession brought about by the epidemic at the earliest, and became the victim of the US government's inefficient anti-epidemic measures.

3. Racial discrimination in the United States has intensified in the epidemic

　　Systemic racial discrimination is a chronic illness in American society. Since 2016, white supremacy in the United States has revived, and racial discrimination has intensified. Social tensions brought about by the New Coronary Pneumonia epidemic, especially the unequal allocation of limited anti-epidemic resources, have further deepened discrimination against minorities such as Asian, African and Latino in the "mainstream society" in the United States.

　　The Asian community suffered severe stigmatization attacks. The British "Guardian" website reported on April 1, 2020 that "(American society) stereotypes of Asians have never been eliminated", and some American media have attached photos of Asian faces when reporting new cases of coronary pneumonia. The New York Times website reported on April 16 that “during the New Crown Virus, it is a very lonely feeling to be Asian in the United States”. Since the outbreak, Asian Americans have been humiliated and even attacked in public. Some American politicians are even more deliberately misleading. After the World Health Organization officially named the new coronavirus "COVID-19", senior US government officials including Secretary of State Pompeo still insisted on using the "Chinese virus" and "Wuhan virus", even after being strongly criticized by the international community. Also refused to change his tongue. The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Racism, Tendai Achume, stated on March 23 and April 21 that the politicians of the countries concerned proactively made public or implied xenophobic speeches, using ulterior motives to replace the new crown virus, This xenophobic expression linking a specific disease to a specific country or nation is irresponsible and disturbing. "This wave of epidemic discrimination completely reveals the more concealed racial prejudice, and the more exposed it becomes in the context of the global pandemic." In the United States, which bills itself as the "beacon of freedom", government officials blatantly incite, guide, and condone racial discrimination, which is tantamount to humiliating the modern concept of human rights.

　　African and Hispanic people suffered huge racial inequalities during the outbreak. Racial discrimination is deeply rooted in the history and reality of the United States, and the New Coronary Pneumonia epidemic is like a magnifying glass, presenting the consequences of racial discrimination in a more tragic form. It is extremely common for African Americans to be disproportionately affected by the new coronary pneumonia epidemic. The Michigan State Department of Health and Human Services announced on April 2, 2020 that the ethnic composition of confirmed and dead cases of new coronary pneumonia in the state shows that African descent accounted for only 12% of the state’s total population, but accounted for 33% of confirmed cases. Deaths The proportion is as high as 40%. National statistics released by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that as of May 13th, African Americans accounted for 22.4% of deaths from new coronary pneumonia in the United States, which was significantly higher than its 12.5% ​​share of the total population. Africans of Kansas, Illinois, and Missouri accounted for only 5.7%, 14.1%, and 11.6% of the total population, respectively, but accounted for 29.7%, 30.3%, and 35.1% of deaths, respectively. Hispanics also suffered from higher infection and fatality rates during the epidemic. According to the ethnic distribution of new coronary pneumonia deaths announced by New York City in early April, Hispanics accounted for 34%. The New York Times website reported on April 14 that the reason for the high infection and mortality rates for African Americans and Hispanics is because "today their gap in health comes directly from historical wealth and opportunities. equality". The Financial Times website of the United Kingdom reported on May 15 that African Americans and Hispanic Americans are more likely than whites to perform the work necessary to maintain social operations. They have a higher poverty rate and are more likely to suffer from diabetes and hypertension. "Disease", making them more susceptible to new coronavirus. "This pandemic has exacerbated racial differences in the United States." "There is nothing better than the life and death in this blockade that reflects the difference in skin color in the United States." On May 25, Minnesota African-American man George Floyd was killed by violent law enforcement by white police, triggering large-scale protests and demonstrations across the United States, once again highlighting the dissatisfaction and anger of the American people about the worsening racial inequality.

　　Racist violence is frequent. During the epidemic, racist violence in the United States occurred frequently, and Asian groups suffered severe physical attacks. From March 19 to April 1, 2020 alone, the US nonprofit organization "Stop Hate Asians" received more than 1,100 reports of hate incidents. In February 2020, a 16-year-old Asian boy in Los Angeles was beaten as a "virus carrier" in school. On March 14, in a supermarket in Midland, Texas, a 19-year-old man deliberately stabbed an Asian man and his two young children with a knife on the grounds that "they are Chinese and the new crown The virus spreads to others." On April 5, an Asian woman in Brooklyn, New York City was attacked by a racist who spilled unidentified chemical liquid while pouring garbage at her door, causing severe burns to her upper body, face and hands. The violence further exacerbated the tense social atmosphere during the epidemic, and social divisions, racial opposition, and the proliferation of guns worsened. On April 15th, nearly 200 US foreign policy scholars and former diplomats issued a statement in the "USA Today", pointing out that hate crimes and violent attacks against Asian people sounded the alarm for the United States. Leaders should take action against racism against Asians and end hate crimes against Asian communities.

4. Vulnerable groups in the United States are struggling to survive in the epidemic

　　The care for the survival of socially disadvantaged and marginalized groups represents the conscience of a society and the touchstone for verifying the true human rights situation in a country. During the epidemic, the "cruel capitalism" characteristics of the United States were undoubtedly exposed, causing the elderly, homeless people and children into a tragic situation.

　　The elderly have become "victims" of the government's ineffectiveness in fighting the epidemic. UN Secretary General Guterres has repeatedly stressed that the elderly and young people have the same right to life and health, and no one can be sacrificed or abandoned under the epidemic. However, in the epidemic, the American elderly group, which was originally at greater risk, was further weakened and marginalized due to age discrimination, and the right to life could not be basically guaranteed. On March 23 and April 22, 2020, Texas Deputy Governor Dan Patrick said twice in an interview with Fox News that he “would rather die than see public health measures harm the US economy”, agreeing to the elderly At the expense of human life, "risk to restart the American economy". Ben Shapiro, the editor-in-chief of the "Daily Connection" news network of the American right-wing media, declared coldly on an interview show on April 29, "81-year-olds died of new coronary pneumonia and 30-year-olds died of new coronary pneumonia. Concept"; "If an 81-year-old grandmother dies in a nursing home, although this is tragic, the life expectancy of an American is 80 years." The New York Times website reported on May 11 that at least 28,100 occupants and staff of long-term care institutions such as nursing homes in the United States have died of new crown virus infection, accounting for about one-third of the deaths of the new crown in the United States. In these care institutions, many elderly people live in a relatively closed environment, and the risk of death after infection with the new coronavirus is very high. The Atlantic Monthly website published two articles on March 28 and April 29, "Age discrimination made the epidemic worse" and "We are killing the elderly." Serious shortcomings such as deficiencies are “weaker than other countries’ in terms of protecting the rights of the elderly,” “this is due to many political reasons.” The "Washington Post" website reported on May 9 that the US anti-epidemic action "has become a state-approved massacre", "it deliberately sacrificed the elderly, workers, people of African descent and Hispanics."

　　The homeless are nowhere to be placed in the epidemic. The USA Today website reported on April 22, 2020 that more than 550,000 people are homeless every night in the United States; according to the Homeless Alliance statistics, about 17 out of every 10,000 Americans have experienced Homelessness, about 33% of them are families with children. Among the homeless there are many elderly people and disabled people, they are originally in poor physical health, poor living and sanitary conditions, are susceptible groups of the virus. During the epidemic, homeless people living on the streets were severely deported and forced to live in temporary shelters for isolation. The Reuters website reported on April 23 that homeless shelters across the United States are difficult to maintain a social distance due to crowded personnel, making the virus easy to spread. As of April 20, 43 people in New York City's shelters had died from infection with the new coronavirus, and 617 had a positive virus test. The New York Times website reported on April 13 that the homeless shelter became the "time bomb" of the New York City epidemic. More than 17,000 people lived in centralized shelters for single adults and slept almost in bed You can touch your hands. The "Nature" magazine website reported on May 7 that when researchers began to conduct virus testing on homeless people in the United States, they found that the situation there has been out of control. The Boston Globe website reported on May 4 that 596 homeless people in Boston have been diagnosed with the new coronavirus, accounting for one-third of the local population that has been tested. The Los Angeles Times website reported on May 14 that research shows that the number of homeless people in the United States affected by the epidemic may surge by as much as 45% within a year, leading to a further aggravation of the public health crisis.

　　The situation of poor children and immigrant children is worrying. The United States has not yet ratified the core international human rights convention, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. In recent years, the problem of child poverty and abuse in the United States has been very serious, and the outbreak has further exacerbated it. Forbes News reported on May 7, 2020 that a survey showed that a large number of American children were facing hunger in the epidemic. As of the end of April, more than one-fifth of American households faced a food crisis; among American households with children under 12 years of age, the proportion of people facing food crises was as high as two-fifths. Forbes News reported on May 9 that the number of reports of child exploitation in the United States surged during the epidemic. The National Center for Missing and Battered Children received 4.2 million related reports in April, an increase of 2 million from March 2020 and from 2019. In April, it increased by nearly 3 million copies. What is even more worrying is that the United States is also holding a large number of unaccompanied immigrant children and is in an extremely dangerous situation during the virus pandemic. The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights of Immigrants Morales and other UN human rights experts issued a joint statement on April 27, requesting the US government to transfer immigrants from overcrowded and poorly sanitary detention centers; on May 29, the UN Human Rights Council Fifteen special mechanism experts issued a joint statement, urging the United States to take more measures to prevent the outbreak in the detention center. The United Nations website reported on May 21 that since March, the U.S. government has repatriated at least 1,000 unaccompanied immigrant children to Central and South America regardless of the risk of the epidemic. UNICEF has criticized the move as putting children in greater danger in.

5. Relevant actions of the US government seriously deviate from the spirit of international human rights law

　　Facing the huge threat to the citizens' right to life and health from the spread of the domestic epidemic in the United States, instead of investing energy in the prevention and control of the epidemic, the U.S. government wields a hegemonic stick to fan the flames, tries to divert attention, shirk responsibility, and unite and cooperate with the international community to deal with the epidemic. Cause serious damage.

　　Ineffective anti-epidemic violations of state obligations to protect the right to life. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights stipulates that everyone enjoys the right to life, and the state is obliged to take active measures to protect the right to life. As a party to this convention, the United States government has not put the people’s right to life and health in the face of the new coronary pneumonia epidemic. Instead, it has placed the domestic political party campaign and the international political need to suppress China above the safety of people’s lives and missed the virus. The best time to spread the disease has caused a major human rights disaster of about 2 million infections and more than 110,000 deaths. The US government has clearly failed to fulfill its due national obligations to protect people’s lives from the threat of epidemics. The British "Independent News" website commented on April 10, 2020 that the United States always puts human rights in the mouth, but ignores its human rights obligations and blatantly ignores people's lives. The Huffington Post website reported on May 6 that Yale University epidemiologist Greg Goncalves made a rigorous assessment of the poor performance of the U.S. government's response to the new coronary pneumonia epidemic, and pointed out mercilessly this " Very close to the acquiesced massacre."

　　Malicious "stigma" China violates the principles of equality and non-discrimination. The principles of equality and non-discrimination are the core norms of international human rights law and are confirmed by a series of international human rights instruments such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Since the outbreak of the epidemic, high-level US government officials have continued to "stigmatize" China by maintaining political power by using the epidemic to maintain their hegemony, regardless of the human conscience and ethical bottom line. With the scientific community generally thinking that the virus came from nature, US Secretary of State Pompeo even hesitated to use the so-called false "intelligence" as a guise to repeatedly claim that the virus came from a laboratory in Wuhan, China. The behavior of American politicians clearly violates the "Virus Naming Best Practice Principles" jointly issued by the World Health Organization, the World Organization for Animal Health and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in 2015, which is contrary to the World Health Organization's official name recommendation for new coronary pneumonia. The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Racism, Tendai Achume pointed out on March 23, 2020 that US government officials deliberately did not use internationally recognized virus names, but chose ulterior motives to refer to the new crown virus. Responsible, discriminatory national speech is rooted in and will foster racism and xenophobia, leading to stigmatization, exclusion and violence against certain groups of people, which is incompatible with international human rights law obligations and is unforgivable.

　　Suspension of payment of WHO membership fees impedes global joint anti-epidemic. In order to shirk its responsibility for fighting the epidemic, the US government tried to make the World Health Organization a "scapegoat", threatening to stop paying dues while digging out all kinds of false accusations. On April 14, 2020, the US government announced its suspension of paying dues to WHO, which was unanimously criticized by the international community. UN Secretary General Guterres issued a statement on April 14 stating that the world is fighting the new crown epidemic and reducing the resources required by WHO or any other humanitarian organizations for operations. The president of the American Medical Association, Patrice Harris, issued a statement on April 15 stating that combating the epidemic requires international cooperation. The United States suspended financial support to WHO at this critical moment, which is a dangerous step in the wrong direction. Borelli, the European Union’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, said on April 15 that “at this time, there is no reason to justify this action.” The British "Guardian" website commented on April 15 that when the world desperately needs to jointly overcome this threat that the world has never experienced, the suspension of the WHO dues by the US government is an act that lacks morality and disrupts international order. Is a "horrible betrayal of global unity." German Foreign Minister Mas said on April 16 that WHO is the mainstay of the global fight against the epidemic, and the suspension of the WHO dues by the United States at this time is an irresponsible act of “throwing the pilot out of the plane”. The US Secretary of State Pompeo once again attacked the WHO on April 22, threatening to permanently suspend the payment of dues. On May 29, the President of the United States announced the termination of relations with WHO.

　　Unilateral sanctions violate the spirit of humanitarianism and the principles of international cooperation. International cooperation is the cornerstone for maintaining the survival and operation of the international community. It is an important principle for ensuring the implementation of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the global level. It is also a national obligation recognized by international instruments such as the Charter of the United Nations. At an important time when the epidemic spreads globally and is related to human life and health and well-being, all countries should work together to respond to the epidemic and maintain global public health security. During the epidemic, the US government still imposed sanctions on Iran, Cuba, Venezuela and other countries, which made it difficult for the sanctioned countries to obtain medical supplies needed for anti-epidemic in a timely manner, seriously threatening the people's rights to life and health. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said on March 24, 2020, in the case of a global pandemic, sanctions will hinder medical work and increase risks for everyone; whether it is to maintain global public health security Or, in order to protect the rights and lives of millions of people in sanctioned countries, sanctions in special areas should be relaxed or suspended. The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights, the Special Rapporteur on Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation, and the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education issued a joint statement on May 6 stating that US sanctions on Venezuela are having a serious impact on the human rights of the people of the country Urge the United States to immediately lift sanctions that exacerbate the suffering of the people of the country in the event of a rampant epidemic.