Tag: human rights

Trump State Dept. declares abortions, euthanasia, transgender surgeries ‘human rights violations’

Federal officials will recognize the intentional destruction of innocent preborn babies as well as the surgical and chemical mutilation of children as human rights violations, according to the State Department.

Spokesperson Tommy Pigott told The Daily Signal that countries receiving foreign aid will be required to include “the mutilation of children” in their annual reporting to the United States.

“In recent years, new destructive ideologies have given safe harbor to human rights violations,” Pigott said. “The Trump administration will not allow these human rights violations, such as the mutilation of children, laws that infringe on free speech, and racially discriminatory employment practices, to go unchecked. We are saying enough is enough.”

“Racially discriminatory” practices include favoring non-white applicants for jobs or other benefits, a practice sometimes called “affirmative action.”

The human rights reports are a standard requirement for countries receiving taxpayer dollars.

“The State Department submits Human Rights Reports on all countries receiving assistance and all United Nations member states to Congress in accordance with the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 and the Trade Act of 1974,” The Daily Signal explained.

Other human rights violations that must be tracked include sanctions for so-called “hate speech,” supporting mass migration into other countries, “attempts to coerce individuals into engaging in euthanasia,” “violations of religious freedom, including antisemitic violence and harassment,” and support for “forced testing, forced organ harvesting, and eugenic gene-editing practices on human embryos.”

A medical reform group that opposes transgender drugs and surgeries for minors thanked the Trump administration for “setting a clear moral standard” on this issue, as well as others, such as DEI.

“Do No Harm commends the Trump administration for highlighting toxic ideologies around the globe as the first step to eliminating them,” Executive Director Kristina Rasmussen told LifeSiteNews via a media statement.

“Engaging in racial discrimination or pushing irreversible gender medicalization on children is unacceptable – whether here at home or abroad,” Rasmussen said. “The State Department is leading the way in protecting the vulnerable and setting a clear moral standard for the world.”

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State Department Investigates Mass Migration as Potential Human Rights Violation

Denouncing mass migration as “an existential threat to Western civilization,” the State Department on Friday said it will be blowing the whistle on nations that make catering to migrants more important than the welfare of their own citizens.

The State Department will look into diversity, equity, and inclusion policies of other nations as possible human rights violations, according to the BBC. Nations that fund abortions or assist in mass migration could find themselves labeled as violators of human rights.

A senior State Department official said the new fight against mass migration is “a tool to change the behavior of governments.”

“The United States remains committed to the Declaration of Independence’s recognition that all men are endowed by the Creator with certain unalienable rights.”

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US State Department Designates “DEI” As A Violation Of Human Rights

There is no way for a government to enforce Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policies without also discriminating against certain groups of people.  DEI, by its very nature, is anti-merit, anti-success and pro-privilege.  Of course, the groups that are most commonly discriminated against under DEI quotas are mostly white, male and straight.  The assumption being that white dudes are widely considered “fair game” by the rest of society. 

This dynamic creates a never-ending cycle of people clamoring for oppression status rather than personal integrity and accomplishment.  To win in life, you must figure out a way to catch the government’s favor and attain that coveted prize; to rise to the top of the diversity totem pole.

This ideology has infected societies throughout most first world countries and even some developing nations.  Woke activism seems rampant in the US, but that’s because DEI faces American opposition.  The color revolution is louder because their power is failing.  For the rest of the west, however, DEI in government is an absolute.  This is a problem because it requires Americans to reconsider which countries they view as “allies.” 

The Trump Administration is adjusting to this ideological conflict quickly, and part of this change requires that the US starts openly calling out far-left governments for their destructive behaviors.

Countries enforcing DEI policies will now be at risk of the Trump Administration deeming them as human rights abusers, which upends the status quo when it comes to diplomatic relations.  The State Department is issuing new rules to all US embassies and consulates involved in compiling its annual report on global human rights violations.  

Other policies by foreign governments which US embassies will be told to categorize as human rights infringements include:     

Subsidising abortions, “as well as the total estimated number of annual abortions”     

Gender-transition surgery for children, defined by the state department as “operations involving chemical or surgical mutilation… to modify their sex.”     

Facilitating mass or illegal migration “across a country’s territory into other countries.”     

Arrests or “official investigations or warnings for speech” – a reference to the Trump administration’s opposition to internet safety laws adopted by some European countries to deter online “hate speech” (any speech which is critical of woke ideology no matter rational).  

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China Deploys ‘Growing Army’ Of Pro-Beijing NGOs To UN To Target Critics: Report

The Chinese regime is increasingly sending groups that pose as nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to the United Nations in an effort to suppress criticism of its human rights record, according to a report published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) on April 28.

The 10-month investigation, a partnership between the ICIJ and 42 media organizations, examined China’s transnational repression under Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Part of the report focused on the communist regime’s subversion campaign against the U.N. Human Rights Council through “a growing army of Chinese NGOs.”

“Since Xi’s reelection as Communist Party general secretary in 2017 and president the following year, China has sought greater influence within the U.N. human rights system and become more aggressive in silencing dissent,” the report reads.

ICIJ found that the number of Chinese NGOs holding consultative status with the U.N. has nearly doubled since 2018.

NGOs can participate in U.N. meetings, make oral statements, and submit written statements before U.N. sessions after obtaining consultative status, which is granted by the U.N. Economic and Social Council.

An ICIJ analysis of 106 NGOs from China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan found that 59 are not independent but are “closely connected” to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The ICIJ referred to these Beijing-backed NGOs as “GONGOs” or “government-organized nongovernmental organizations.”

Ten of these GONGOs receive more than 50 percent of their funding from Beijing, the ICIJ noted.

In at least 46 of these groups, directors, secretaries, vice presidents, or other high-ranking staff also hold positions in the Chinese regime’s departments or within the CCP.

Additionally, 53 of these NGOs pledge loyalty to the CCP on their websites or in other official documents. Among them, 12 agree to defer their decision-making to the Party, such as leadership appointments.

“In 2024, 33 Chinese NGOs showed up about 300 times on the lists of speakers at Human Rights Council sessions. There were only three of them in 2018. None criticized China,” the report reads.

Rana Siu Inboden, senior fellow at the Strauss Center for International Security and Law at the University of Texas at Austin, was quoted in the report as saying that Beijing “is clearly using NGOs as a tool.”

“They are encouraging them, helping them, guiding them, coaching them through how to get this [consultative] status,” Inboden said. “And then once they’re [at the U.N.], you can see how their statements, whether it’s in the Human Rights Council or elsewhere, serve the government.”

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How China Hijacks the International Human Rights System

The People’s Republic of China (PRC) is using money, collaboration with authoritarian allies, and manipulation of rules to shift the international human rights system’s priorities and discussions to advance narratives and issues that are friendly to China.  For example, Beijing has secured the inclusion of independent experts in the United Nations Special Procedures system who work on issues that align with Beijing’s interests and is populating the U.N. with Government Organized NGOs (GONGOs) that act as mouthpieces for the Chinese government.  

In the past, the experts in the Special Procedures system and civil society organizations have played a crucial role in spotlighting China’s human rights abuses.  But now Beijing is utilizing them to promote issues and narratives that align with China’s interests.   

China and the U.N. Special Procedures

Among Beijing’s targets are the U.N. Special Procedures, which comprises roughly 60 independent experts who focus on a theme or country.  The Special Procedures have spoken out about the worsening repression in China, issuing over two dozen joint statements expressing alarm about the PRC’s crackdown on Hong Kong, human rights defenders, and ethnic groups, particularly the Uyghur community, with some of the statements attracting over 40 signatures.  

While the majority of Special Procedures focus on crucial human rights issues, such as torture or freedom of expression, and demonstrate integrity, China and other authoritarian countries have begun creating Special Procedures with mandates that favor their views, such as the Special Rapporteur on “Unilateral Coercive Measures,” a term intended to give sanctions a negative gloss, and the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Development, to name a few.  

Even though sanctions have long been a human rights tool, including to resist apartheid in South Africa, China and other countries that have been the target of sanctions managed to secure passage of a 2014 Human Rights Council (HRC) resolution that created a Special Rapporteur on Unilateral Coercive Measures.  

Despite opposition from a number of liberal democracies, including the U.S., the resolution, which was introduced by Iran, created in the United Nations an independent expert to examine “the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures.” It passed following a contentious vote with support from nations such as China, Russia, and Venezuela. 

After securing the creation of this position, Beijing and other authoritarian countries have cooperated with the mandate holder and provided funding. For example, since 2015, Russia, China, and Qatar – which are categorized as “not free” by Freedom House – have donated $1,325,000 (with roughly $800,000 coming from China) to the mandate on unilateral coercive measures.  Although rapporteurs do not receive a salary from the U.N., states can use donations to a specific Special Procedure to help support the mandate holder’s work by funding travel, staff, and research assistance. Most Special Procedures receive only enough funding to cover two trips per year and one staff position to support the independent expert. Therefore, additional funding can elevate and amplify a particular Special Procedure mandate. 

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Executions in Saudi Arabia hit record high under MBS as UN prepares to vote the country onto Human Rights Council this week

Saudi Arabia has carried out a record number of executions this year even as the UN gets set to vote on whether to grant the Kingdom a seat on the Human Rights council.

At least 208 people have been put to death in the Middle Eastern nation so far this year, outstripping the most recent high of 196 in 2022 with almost three months still remaining on the calendar. 

The shocking figure, which rights groups claim is still underreported, puts the Arab Gulf state firmly in the top five nations where the death penalty is most frequently used, despite Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) pledging to reduce the rate of executions.

Since taking on the role of Crown Prince in 2015, MBS has overseen at least 1,447 executions and, despite a mortarium on the use of the death penalty for minor offences in 2020, the instances of capital punishment reached a monthly record high of 41 in August and 32 last month. 

The harrowing figures comes as the UN gets ready to vote in two days on whether the Gulf state should be granted membership of the Human Rights council.

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