China and North Korea have slammed the US government for being hypocritical on the issues relating to human rights. The criticism comes on the heels of the controversial US Senate report on the gruesome torture of detainees by Central Intelligence Agencies.
"As Human Rights Day approaches, high-profile cases of violations within American borders and by its agencies abroad are being scrutinised, especially as it pertains to be a defender of civil liberties globally," the government-owned official Xinhua News Agency said in a commentary on Tuesday.
North Korea also issued its condemnation against the "inhuman torture" methods of the US as highlighted by the report. Pyongyang said the revelations posed a major test to the credibility of Security Council, which it accused of "shutting its eyes" to rights violations by one of its permanent members while discussing North Korea's rights record.
"If (the Security Council) wants to discuss the human rights issue, it should ... call into question the human rights abuses rampant in the US," a spokesman cited by the official KCNA news agency said, as reported by AFP.
The remarks seem to be a desperate effort by North Korea to throw the ball on US side after being rattled by UN condemnation of its human rights record.
'Deeply Rooted Racism, Human Rights Violations'
The report released by the Senate highlights extreme forms of interrogation methods under the Bush administration. At least one detainee was sexually threatened with a broomstick and others were deprived of sleep for over 180 hours. Some militants were also threatened that their mothers would be raped. Waterboarding and other extreme forms of torture were also highlighted in the report raising questions about US' own human rights issues.
Xinhua noted that the Congressional report detailing measures of torture used by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) on al-Qaida detainees during interrogation has added fuel to the already hot disputes on other human rights issues in the country, including the recent decision of a grand jury not to indict "Caucasian" Darren Wilson, who shot dead unarmed Black teen Michael Brown in August in Ferguson.
Days later another white police officer involved in the choke-hold death of Eric Garner was allowed to walk free. The last words of the man, 'I can't breathe' have been used as a slogan in the series of protests that have rocked US cities over the past week.
In a similar incident, a 12-year-old African-American boy was shot by a Cleveland Police officer on 22 November in a park. The child died the next day.
Slamming US for its "deeply-rooted racism", the publication also took up issues with the surveillance scandal, which targeted its own citizens as well as leaders of other countries, adding that US arbitrarily attacks foreign countries in its anti-terror campaigns, which results in heavy civilian casualties.
"American is neither a suitable role model nor a qualified judge on human rights issues in other countries, as it pertains to be," Xinhua – which is a mouthpiece of the Beijing government – said referring to the CIA torture report.
"Yet, despite this, people rarely hear the US talking about its own problems, preferring to be vocal on the issues it sees in other countries, including China."
