US Human Rights Act Released... China, Not North Korea, Main Target "Massacre in Uyghur Region" (Comprehensive Report 2)

First Official Report on Massacre in Middle School Recorded
No Change in North Korea Content Compared to Last Year

[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] The U.S. Department of State, releasing its first country-specific human rights report under the Joe Biden administration, stated its intention to place human rights at the center of its foreign policy. While criticisms of North Korean human rights showed little change from previous years, the report affirmed a commitment to maintaining strong pressure, and issued harsh criticism of China for committing genocide.

[Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

The '2020 North Korea Human Rights Report' released on the 30th (local time) listed numerous human rights violations by security forces, including unlawful or arbitrary killings by authorities, enforced disappearances, torture and cruel treatment and punishment by authorities, political prison camps with life-threatening harsh detention conditions, and arbitrary detention and arrest as major human rights issues. The Department of State pointed out that the COVID-19 pandemic has made it even more difficult to assess the human rights situation in North Korea.

However, this year's report is evaluated to have little difference from the 2019 human rights report. The Department of State removed the assessment from the '2017 North Korea Human Rights Report' released in 2018, which stated that "North Korean residents face severe human rights abuses by the government," and did not include it this year either. Secretary Tony Blinken did not mention North Korea separately in the preface of the human rights report. It is suggested that this may have been to avoid provoking North Korea ahead of the conclusion of the North Korea policy review.

Secretary Blinken publicly criticized on the 17th during his visit to South Korea, stating, "The authoritarian regime in North Korea continues to carry out systematic and widespread abuses against its own people."

However, Lisa Peterson, Acting Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor at the U.S. Department of State, said, "We remain deeply concerned about North Korea's appalling human rights record, one of the worst in the world," and added, "We will continue to hold the North Korean government accountable for its egregious human rights abuses."

In the preface of the human rights report, Secretary Blinken stated, "I am honored to reaffirm America's commitment to placing human rights at the center of our foreign policy," and immediately began pressuring China.

Secretary Blinken accused, "In China, government authorities have committed genocide against the Uyghurs, including crimes such as detention, torture, and forced sterilization."

Major foreign media noted that although Secretary Blinken had verbally mentioned China's genocide, the human rights report marks the first official recognition by the Biden administration that China is committing genocide in the Uyghur region. The U.S. assessment came amid escalating conflicts with China over human rights abuses in the Xinjiang region. The Department of State also criticized the arrests of Hong Kong democracy activists following the implementation of the Hong Kong National Security Law, as well as media and internet censorship.

At a press conference held to mark the release of the human rights report, Secretary Blinken said, "We are not trying to contain China but to uphold the international order," and added, "The Chinese government's response to European countries' sanctions related to China's human rights will only double China's attention to human rights."

The South Korea section of the human rights report included allegations of corruption and sexual harassment involving South Korean passport holders, as well as controversies over the law banning anti-North Korea leaflets. While it generally presented the positions of the South Korean government and human rights organizations side by side, the mention of sexual harassment and corruption issues involving ruling party figures is expected to pose a considerable burden on the South Korean government.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.