美国人权白皮书

Human Rights Record of the United States in

2010

The State Department of the United States released its Country Reports on Human Rights

Practices for 2010 on April 8, 2011. As in previous years, the reports are full of distortions

and accusations of the human rights situation in more than 190 countries and regions

including China. However, the United States turned a blind eye to its own terrible human

rights situation and seldom mentioned it. The Human Rights Record of the United States

in 2010 is prepared to urge the United States to face up to its own human rights issues.

I. On Life, Property and Personal Security

The United States reports the world's highest incidence of violent crimes, and its people's

lives, properties and personal security are not duly protected.

Every year, one out of every five people is a victim of a crime in the United States. No

other nation on earth has a rate that is higher. In 2009, an estimated 4.3 million violent

crimes, 15.6 million property crimes and 133,000 personal thefts were committed against

U.S. residents aged 12 or older, and the violent crime rate was 17.1 victimizations per

1,000 persons, according to a report published by the U.S. Department of Justice on

October 13, 2010 (Criminal Victimization 2009, U.S. Department of Justice,

). The crime rate surged in many cities in the United States. St.

Louis in Missouri reported more than 2,070 violent crimes per 100,000 residents, making it

the nation's most dangerous city (The Associated Press, November 22, 2010). Detroit

residents experienced more than 15,000 violent crimes each year, which means the city

has 1,600 violent crimes per 100,000 residents. The United States' four big cities -

Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles and New York - reported increases in murders in

2010 from the previous year (USA Today, December 5, 2010). Twenty-five murder cases

occurred in Los Angeles County in a week from March 29 to April 4, 2010; and in the first

half of 2010, 373 people were killed in murders in Los Angeles County

(). As of November 11, New York City saw 464 homicide cases, up 16

percent from the 400 reported at the same time last year (The Washington Post,

November 12, 2010).

The United States exercised lax control on the already rampant gun ownership. Reuters

reported on November 10, 2010 that the United States ranks first in the world in terms of

the number of privately-owned guns. Some 90 million people own an estimated 200

million guns in the United States, which has a population of about 300 million. The

Supreme Court of the United States ruled on June 28, 2010 that the second amendment

of the U.S. Constitution gives Americans the right to bear arms that can not be violated by

state and local governments, thus extending the Americans' rights to own a gun for

self-defense purposes to the entire country (The Washington Post, June 29, 2010). Four

U.S. states - Tennessee, Arizona, Georgia and Virginia - allow loaded guns in bars. And

18 other states allow weapons in restaurants that serve alcohol (The New York Times,

October 3, 2010). Tennessee has nearly 300,000 handgun permit holders. The

Washington Times reported on June 7, 2010 that in November 2008, a total of 450,000

more people in the United States purchased firearms than had bought them in November

2007. This was a more than 10-fold increase, compared with the change in sales from

November 2007 over November 2006. From November 2008 to October 2009, almost 2.5

million more people bought guns than had done so in the preceding 12 months (The

Washington Times, June 7, 2010). The frequent campus shootings in colleges in the

United States came to the spotlight in recent years. The United Kingdom's Daily

Telegraph reported on February 21, 2011 that a new law that looks certain to pass

through the legislature in Texas, the United States, would allow half a million students and

teachers in its 38 public colleges to carry guns on campus. It would become only the

second state, after Utah, to enforce such a rule.

The United States had high incidence of gun-related blood-shed crimes. Statistics showed

there were 12,000 gun murders a year in the United States (The New York Times,

September 26, 2010). Figures released by the U.S. Department of Justice on October 13,

2010 showed weapons were used in 22 percent of all violent crimes in the United States

in 2009, and about 47 percent of robberies were committed with arms (,

October 13, 2010). On March 30, 2010, five men killed four people and seriously injured

five others in a deadly drive-by shooting (The Washington Post, April 27, 2010). In April,

six separate shootings occurred overnight, leaving 16 total people shot, two fatally

(). On April 3, a deadly shooting at a restaurant in North

Hollywood, Los Angeles, left four people dead and two others wounded

(, April 4, 2010). One person was killed and 21 others wounded

in separate shootings around Chicago roughly between May 29 and 30

(, May 30, 2010). In June, 52 people were shot at a

weekend in Chicago (, June 21, 2010). Three police officers were

shot dead by assailants in the three months from May to July (Chicago Tribune, July 19,

2010). A total of 303 people were shot and 33 of them were killed in Chicago in the 31

days of July in 2010. Between November 5 and 8, four people were killed and at least five

others injured in separate shootings in Oakland (World Journal, November 11, 2010). On

November 30, a 15-year-old boy in Marinette County, Wisconsin, took his teacher and 24

classmates hostage at gunpoint (abcNews, November 30, 2010). On January 8, 2011, a

deadly rampage critically wounded U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. Six people were killed

and 12 others injured in the attack (Los Angeles Times, January 9, 2011).

II. On Civil and Political Rights

In the United States, the violation of citizens' civil and political rights by the government is

severe.

Citizen' s privacy has been undermined. According to figures released by the American

Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in September 2010, more than 6,600 travelers had been

subject to electronic device searches between October 1, 2008 and June 2, 2010, nearly

half of them American citizens. A report on The Wall Street Journal on September 7, 2010,

said the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was sued over its policies that allegedly

authorize the search and seizure of laptops, cellphones and other electronic devices

without a reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing. The policies were claimed to leave no limit

on how long the DHS can keep a traveler' s devices or on the scope of private information

that can be searched, copied or detained. There is no provision for judicial approval or

supervision. When Colombian journalist Hollman Morris sought a U.S. student visa so he

could take a fellowship for journalists at Harvard University, his application was denied on

July 17, 2010, as he was ineligible under the "terrorist activities" section of the U.S.A.

Patriot Act. An Arab American named Yasir Afifi, living in California, found the FBI

attached an electronic GPS tracking device near the right rear wheel of his car. In August,

ACLU, joined by the Asian Law Caucus and the San Francisco Bay Guardian weekly, had

filed a lawsuit to expedite the release of FBI records on the investigation and surveillance

of Muslim communities in the Bay Area. The San Francisco FBI office has declined to

comment on the matter "because it' s still an ongoing investigation." (The Washington

Post, October 13, 2010). In October 2010, the Transportation Security Administration

raised the security level at U.S. airports requiring passengers to go through a full-body

scanner machine or pat-downs. It also claimed that passengers can not refuse the

security check based on their religious beliefs. Civil rights groups contended the more

intensive screening violates civil liberties including freedom of religion, the right to privacy

and the constitutional protection against unreasonable searches (AP, November 16,

2010). The ACLU and the U.S. Travel Association have been getting thousands of

complaints about airport security measures (The Christian Science Monitor, November 20,

2010).

Abuse of violence and torturing suspects to get confession is serious in the U. S. law

enforcement. According to a report of Associated Press on October 14, 2010, the New

York Police Department (NYPD) paid about 964 million U.S. dollars to resolve claims

against its officers over the past decade. Among them was a case that an unarmed man

was killed in a 50-bullet police shooting on his wedding day. The three police officers were

acquitted of manslaughter and the NYDP simply settled the case with money (China

Press, October 15, 2010). In a country that boasts "judicial justice," what justice did the

above-mentioned victims get? In June 2010, a federal jury found former Chicago police

lieutenant Jon Burge guilty of perjury and obstruction of justice. Burge and officers under

his command shocked, suffocated and burned suspects into giving confessions in the

1970s and 1980s (The Boston Globe, November 5, 2010). According to a report on

Chicago Tribune on May 12, 2010, Chicago Police was charged with arresting people

without warrants, shackling them to the wall or metal benches, feeding them infrequently

and holding them without bathroom breaks and giving them no bedding, which were

deemed consistent with tactics of "soft torture" used to extract involuntary confessions. On

March 22, a distraught homeless man was shot dead in Potland, Oregon, by four shots

from a police officer (China Press, April 1, 2010). An off-duty Westminster police officer

was arrested on suspicion of kidnapping and raping a woman on April 3 while a

corrections officer was accused of being an accessory (Los Angeles Times, April 6, 2010).

On April 17 in Seattle, Washington, a gang detective and patrol officer kicked a suspect

and verbally assaulted him (Seattle Post-Intelligencer, May 10, 2010). On March 24, Chad

Holley, 15, was brutally beaten by eight police officers in Houston. The teen claimed he

was face down on the ground while officers punched him in the face and kneed him in the

back. After a two-month-long investigation, four officers were indicted and fired (Houston

Chronicle, May 4, June 23, 2010). On August 11, three people were injured by police

shooting when police officers chased a stolen van in Prince George' s County. Family

members of the three injured argued why the police fired into the van when nobody on the

van fired at them (The Washington Post, August 14, 2010). On September 5, 2010, a Los

Angeles police officer killed a Guatemalan immigrant by two shots and triggered a large

scale protest. Police clashed with protesters and arrested 22 of them (The New York

Times, September 8, 2010). On November 5, 2010, a large demonstration took place in

Oakland against a Los Angeles court verdict which put Johannes Mehserle, a police

officer, to two years in prison as he shot and killed unarmed African American Oscar Grant

two years ago. Police arrested more than 150 people in the protest (San Francisco

Chronicle, November 9, 2010).

The United States has always called itself "land of freedom," but the number of inmates in

the country is the world' s largest. According to a report released by the Pew Center on

the States' Public Safety Performance Project in 2008, one in every 100 adults in the U.S.

are in jail and the figure was one in every 400 in 1970. By 2011, America will have more

than 1.7 million men and women in prison, an increase of 13 percent over that of 2006.

The sharp increase will lead to overcrowding prisons. California prisons now hold 164,000

inmates, double their intended capacity (The Wall Street Journal, December 1, 2010). In a

New Beginnings facility for the worst juvenile offenders in Washington DC, only 60 beds

are for 550 youths who in 2009 were charged with the most violent crimes. Many of them

would violate the laws again without proper care or be subject to violent crimes (The

Washington Post, August 28, 2010). Due to poor management and conditions, unrest

frequently occurred in prisons. According to a report on Chicago Tribune on July 18, 2010,

more than 20 former Cook County inmates filed suit saying they were handcuffed or

shackled during labor while in the custody, leaving serious physical and psychological

damage. On October 19, 2010, at least 129 inmates took part in a riot at Calipatria State

Prison, leaving two dead and a dozen injured (China Press, October 20, 2010). In

November, AP released a video showing an inmate, being beaten by a fellow inmate in an

Idaho prison, managed to plead for help through a prison guard station window but

officers looked on and no one intervened until he was knocked unconscious. The prison

was dubbed "gladiator school" (China Press, December 2, 2010).

Wrongful conviction occurred quite often in the United States. In the past two decades, a

total of 266 people were exonerated through DNA tests, among them 17 were on death

row (Chicago Tribune, July 11, 2010). A report from The Washington Post on April 23,

2010, said Washington DC Police admitted 41 charges they raised against a 14-year-old

boy, including four first-degree murders, were false and the teen never confessed to any

charge. Police of Will County, Illinois, had tortured Kevin Fox to confess the killing of his

three-year-old daughter and he had served eight months in prison before a DNA test

exonerated him. Similar case happened in Zion, Illinois, that Jerry Hobbs were forced by

the police to confess the killing of his eight-year-old daughter and had been in prison for

five years before DNA tests proved his innocence. Barry Gibbs had served 19 years in

prison when his conviction of killing a prostitute in 1986 was overturned in 2005 and

received 9.9 million U.S. dollars from New York City government in June 2010 (The New

York Times, June 4, 2010).

The U.S. regards itself as "the beacon of democracy." However, its democracy is largely

based on money. According to a report from The Washington Post on October 26, 2010,

U.S. House and Senate candidates shattered fundraising records for a midterm election,

taking in more than 1.5 billion U.S. dollars as of October 24. The midterm election, held in

November 2010, finally cost 3.98 billion U.S. dollars, the most expensive in the U.S.

history. Interest groups have actively spent on the election. As of October 6, 2010, the 80

million U.S. dollars spent by groups outside the Democratic and Republican parties

dwarfed the 16 million U.S. dollars for the 2006 midterms. One of the biggest spenders

nationwide was the American Future Fund from Iowa, which spent 7 million U.S. dollars

on behalf of Republicans in more than two dozen House and Senate races. One major

player the 60 Plus Association spent 7 million dollars on election related ads. The

American Federation of States, County and Municipal Employees spent 103.9 million U.S.

dollars on the campaigns from October 22 to 27 (The New York Times, November 1,

2010). U.S. citizens have expressed discontent at the huge cost in the elections. A New

York Times/CBS poll showed nearly 8 in 10 U.S. citizens said it was important to limit the

campaign expense (The New York Times, October 22, 2010).

While advocating Internet freedom, the U.S. in fact imposes fairly strict restriction on

cyberspace. On June 24, 2010, the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and

Governmental Affairs approved the Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act, which

will give the federal government "absolute power" to shut down the Internet under a

declared national emergency. Handing government the power to control the Internet will

only be the first step towards a greatly restricted Internet system, whereby individual IDs

and government permission would be required to operate a website. The United States

applies double standards on Internet freedom by requesting unrestricted "Internet

freedom" in other countries, which becomes an important diplomatic tool for the United

States to impose pressure and seek hegemony, and imposing strict restriction within its

territory. An article on BBC on February 16, 2011 noted the U.S. government wants to

boost Internet freedom to give voices to citizens living in societies regarded as "closed"

and questions those governments' control over information flow, although within its

borders the U.S. government tries to create a legal frame to fight the challenge posed by

Wikileaks. The U.S. government might be sensitive to the impact of the free flow of

electronic information on its territory for which it advocates, but it wants to practice

diplomacy by other means, including the Internet, particularly the social networks.

An article on the U.S.-based Foreign Policy Magazine admitted that the U.S government's

approach to the Internet remains "full of problems and contradictions" (Foreign Policy

Magazine website, February 17, 2011).

III. On Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

The United States is the world's richest country, but Americans' economic, social and

cultural rights protection is going from bad to worse.

Unemployment rate in the United States has been stubbornly high. From December 2007

to October 2010, a total of 7.5 million jobs were lost in the country (The New York Times,

November 19, 2010). According to statistics released by the U.S. Department of Labor on

December 3, 2010, the U.S. unemployment rate edged up to 9.8 percent in November

2010, and the number of unemployed persons was 15 million in November, among whom,

41.9 percent were jobless for 27 weeks and more (). The jobless rate of

California in January 2010 was 12.5 percent, its worst on record. Unemployment topped

20 percent in eight California counties (The Los Angeles Times, March 11, 2010).

Unemployment rate of New York State was 8.3 percent in October 2010. There were

nearly 800,000 people unemployed statewide, and about 527,000 people were collecting

unemployment benefits from the state (The New York Times, November 19, 2010).

Employment situation for the disabled was worse. According to statistics released by the

U.S. Department of Labor on August 25, 2010, the average unemployment rate for

disabled workers was 14.5 percent in 2009, and nearly a third of workers with disabilities

worked only part-time. The jobless rate for workers with disabilities who had at least a

bachelor's degree was 8.3 percent, which was higher than the 4.5 percent rate for

college-educated workers without disabilities (The Wall Street Journal, August 26, 2010).

The unemployment rate for those with disabilities had risen to 16.4 percent as of July

2010 (The Wall Street Journal, August 26, 2010). In 2009, more than 21,000 disabled

people complained to Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) about their

experience of employment discrimination, an increase of 10 percent and 20 percent over

the numbers of 2008 and 2007 (The World Journal, September 25, 2010).

Proportion of American people living in poverty has risen to a record high. The U.S.

Census Bureau reported on September 16, 2010 that a total of 44 million Americans

found themselves in poverty in 2009, four million more than that of 2008. The share of

residents in poverty climbed to 14.3 percent in 2009, the highest level recorded since

1994 (The New York Times, September 17, 2010). In 2009, Mississippi's poverty rate was

23.1 percent (). Florida had a total of 2.7 million people living in poverty

(The Washington Post, September 19, 2010). In New York City, 18.7 percent of the

population lived in poverty in 2009, as an additional 45,000 people fell below the poverty

line that year (New York Daily News, September 29, 2010).

People in hunger increased sharply. A report issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture

in November 2010 showed that 14.7 percent of U.S. households were food insecure in

2009 (), an increase of almost 30 percent since 2006 (The Washington

Post, November 21, 2010). About 50 million Americans experienced food shortage that

year. The number of households collecting emergency food aid had increased from 3.9

million in 2007 to 5.6 million in 2009 (The China Press, November 16, 2010). The number

of Americans participating in the food-stamp program increased from 26 million in May

2007 to 42 million in September 2010, approximately one in eight people was using food

stamps (The Associated Press, October 22, 2010). In the past four years, 31.6 percent of

American families tasted poverty for at least a couple of months (The Globe and Mail,

September 17, 2010).

Number of homeless Americans increased sharply. According to a report by USA Today

on June 16, 2010, the number of families in homeless shelters increased 7 percent to

170,129 from fiscal year 2008 through fiscal year 2009. Homeless families also were

staying longer in shelters, from 30 days in 2008 to 36 in 2009, and about 800,000

American families were living with extended family, friends, or other people because of the

economy. The number of homeless students in the U.S. increased 41 percent over that in

the previous two years to one million (The Washington Post, September 23, 2010; USA

Today, July 31, 2010). In New York City, 30 percent of homeless families in 2009 were

first-time homeless (). The city's homeless people increased to 3,111,

with another 38,000 people living in shelters (The New York Times, March 19, 2010). New

Orleans had 12,000 homeless people (News Week, August 23, 2010). An estimated

254,000 men, women and children experienced homelessness in Los Angeles County

during some part of the year. Approximately 82,000 people were homeless on any given

night. African Americans made up approximately half of the Los Angeles County

homeless population, 33 percent were Latino, and a high percentage, as high as 20

percent, were veterans (). American veterans served in the Iraq and

Afghanistan wars could become homeless one year and a half after they retired, and

about 130,000 retired veterans become homeless each year in the US

(). Statistics from the National Coalition for the Homeless showed that

more than 1,000 violent offences against homeless people have occurred in the U.S.

which caused 291 deaths since 1999. (The New York Times, August 18, 2010)

The number of American people without health insurance increased progressively every

year. According to a report by USA Today on September 17, 2010, the number of

Americans without health insurance increased from 46.3 million in 2008 to 50.7 million in

2009, the ninth consecutive annual rise, which accounted for 16.7 percent of the total U.S.

population. Sixty-eight adults under 65 years old died due to lack of health insurance each

day on average in the US. A report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

(CDC) in November 2010 showed that 22 percent of American adults between 16 and 64

had no health insurance (Reuters, November 10, 2010). A report issued by the Center for

Health Policy Research, University of California, Los Angeles indicated that 24.3 percent

of adults under 65 in California State in 2009 had no health insurance, representing a

population of 8.2 million, up from the 6.4 million in 2007. Proportion of children without

health insurance in the state rose from 10.2 percent in 2007 to 13.4 percent in 2009 (The

China Press, March 17, 2010, citing the Los Angeles Times).

IV. On Racial Discrimination

Racial discrimination, deep-seated in the United States, has permeated every aspect of

social life.

An Associated Press-Univision Poll, reported by the Associated Press on May 20, 2010,

found that 61 percent of people overall said Hispanics face significant discrimination,

compared with 52 percent who said blacks do. The New York Times reported on October

28, 2010 that more than 6 in 10 Latinos in the United States say discrimination is a "major

problem" for them, a significant increase in the last three years.

Minorities do not enjoy the same political status as white people. The New York city's

non-Hispanic white population is 35 percent, while more than 70 percent of the senior jobs

are held by whites. Since winning a third term in November 2009, Mayor Michael R.

Bloomberg has announced a parade of major appointments: bringing aboard three new

deputy mayors and six commissioners. All nine are white. Of the 80 current city officials

identified by the Bloomberg administration as "key members" on its Website, 79 percent

are white. Of 321 people who advise the mayor or hold one of three top titles at agencies

that report directly to him - commissioners, deputy commissioners and general counsels,

and their equivalents - 78 percent are white. And of the 1,114 employees who must live in

the city, under an executive order, because they wield the most influence over policies

and day-to-day operations, 74 percent are white (The New York Times, June 29, 2010).

Minority groups confront discrimination in their employment and occupation. The black

people are treated unfairly or excluded in promotion, welfare and employment (Chicago

Tribune, March 12, 2010). It is reported that one-third of black people confronted

discrimination at work, against which only one-sixteenth of the black people would lodge a

complaint. The Washington Post reported on October 15, 2010 that about 30 black

firefighters alleged systematic racial discrimination within the D.C. Department of Fire and

Emergency Medical Services, claiming that black employees faced harsher discipline.

Shirley Sherrod, who was black, was fired by the Agricultural Department after a blogger

posted her truncated comments that 24 years ago, she did not help a white farmer when

she was working for a nonprofit agency established to help black farmers. The U.S.

Agriculture Department in February, 2010 reached a 1.25-billion-dollar settlement in a

decades-long struggle by African-American farmers who had suffered from discrimination

within farm loans (The Washington Post, July 23, 2010). The New York Times reported on

September 23, 2010 that by September 30, 2009, Muslim workers had filed a record 803

claims of complaints over employment discrimination, up 20 percent from the previous

year.

Minority groups have high unemployment rate. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor

Statistics, in July 2010, among the population 16 to 24 years of age, 2,987,000

unemployed people were white, with unemployment rate reaching 16.2 percent; 992,000

were black or African American people, with unemployment rate of 33.4 percent; 165,000

were Asians, with unemployment rate of 21.6 percent; 884,000 belonged to Hispanic or

Latino ethnicity, with unemployment rate of 22.1 percent

(/e/pdf/). According to a report of the working group of

experts on people of African descent to the Human Rights Council of the United Nations in

August 2010, unemployment was a very serious issue for the Afro-descendant community

in the United States, with levels of unemployment being, proportionately, four times higher

among this population than in the white community. Reference was made to a case where

the New York City Fire Department was found to have discriminated against people of

African descent who had applied for employment as firemen. Of the 11,000 firemen

employed by the New York City Fire Department, only about 300 were of African descent,

despite their being about 27 percent of the population of New York (UN document

A/HRC/15/18). Nearly one-sixth of black residents in the city were unemployed in the third

quarter of 2010. About 140,000 of the city's 384,000 unemployed residents, or 36 percent,

were black (The New York Times, October 28, 2010).

Poverty proportion for minorities is also high in the United States. The U.S. Census

Bureau announced in September, 2010 that the poverty proportion of the black was 25.8

percent in 2009, and those of Hispanic origin and Asian were 25.3 percent and 12.5

percent respectively, much higher than that of the non-Hispanic white at 9.4 percent. The

median household income for the black, Hispanic origin and non-Hispanic white were

32,584, 38,039 and 54,461 U.S. dollars respectively (The USA Today, September 17,

2010). A survey released by the America Association of Retired Persons on February 23,

2010 found that over the previous 12 months, a third (33 percent) of African Americans

age 45+ had problems paying rent or mortgage, 44 percent had problems paying for

essential items, such as food and utilities, almost one in four (23 percent) lost their

employer-sponsored health insurance, more than three in ten (31 percent) had cut back

on their medications, and a quarter (26 percent) prematurely withdrew funds from their

retirement nest eggs to pay for living expenses. Even in the tough employment

environment, 12 percent of African Americans age 65+ returned to the workforce from

retirement, while nearly 20 percent of African Americans age 45 to 64 increased the

number of hours worked and 12 percent took a second job (The Los Angeles Times,

February 23, 2010). In 2009, there were more than 30,000 black children living in poverty

in the nation's capital, almost 7,000 more than two years before. Among black children in

the city, childhood poverty shot up to 43 percent, from 36 percent in 2008. In contrast, the

poverty rate for Hispanic children was 13 percent, and the rate for white children was 3

percent (The Washington Post, September 29, 2010).

The U.S. minority groups face obvious inequality in education. A latest report released by

America's Promise Alliance, Civic Enterprises, and the Everyone Graduates Center at

Johns Hopkins University showed that 81 percent of white, 64 percent of Hispanic, and 62

percent of African-American students graduated from high schools in 2008 (The World

Journal, December 2, 2010). As of 2008, among white men aged 55 to 64, the college

completion rate was 43 percent, while 19 percent of Hispanics. Among white men aged 25

to 34, the completion rate was 39 percent, compared with 14 percent of Hispanics (The

Washington Post, October 20, 2010). In New York City, the number of white adults with a

master degree were three times more than Hispanics. According to a report released by

the Sacramento State University, only 22 percent of Latino students and 26 percent

African American students completed their two-year studies in the university, compared

with 37 percent of white students (The San Jose Mercury News, October 20, 2010). A

report released from New York City' s Department of Education in January 2010 found

that 6,207 or 4.7 percent-out of a total of 130,837 disciplinary incidents reported in the

City's public schools during the 2008-09 school year were bias-related with gender,

race/color, gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation (The China Press,

January 18, 2010). The USA Today on October 14, 2010 reported that African American

boys who were suspended at double and triple the rates of their white male peers. At the

Christina School District in Delaware, 71 percent of black male students were suspended

in a recent school year, compared to 22 percent of their white male counterparts.

African-American students without disabilities were more than three times as likely to be

expelled as their white peers. African-American students with disabilities were over twice

as likely to be expelled or suspended as their white counterparts (USA Today, March 8,

2010).

The health care for African-American people is worrisome. Studies showed that nearly a

third of ethnic minority families in the United States did not have health insurance. Life

expectancy was lower and infant mortality higher than average (BBC, the social and

economic position of minorities). Mortality of African American children was two to three

times higher than that of their white counterparts. African American children represented

71 percent of all pediatric HIV/AIDS cases. African American women and men were 17

times and 7 times, respectively, more likely to contract HIV/AIDS than white people, and

twice more likely to develop cancer.

Racial discrimination is evident in the law enforcement and judicial systems. The New

York Times reported on May 13, 2010, that in 2009, African Americans and Latinos were 9

times more likely to be stopped by the police to receive stop-and-frisk searches than white

people. Overall, 41 percent of the prison population was estimated to be African American.

The rate of African Americans serving a life sentence was more than 10 times higher than

that of whites. Males of African descent who dropped out of school had a 66 percent

chance of ending up in jail or being processed by the criminal justice system (UN

document A/HRC/15/18). A report said 85 percent of the people stopped in New York to

receive stop-and-frisk searches over the past six years had been black or Latino (The

Washington Post, November 4, 2010). According to a report of the Law School of the

Michigan State University, among the 159 death row inmates in North Carolina, 86 were

black, 61 were white and 12 were from other ethnic groups. During the trial process of the

159 capital cases, the number of black members taken out from the jury by prosecutors

more than doubled that of non-black members. According to statistics from the Chicago

Police Department, the proportion of black people being the criminals and the victims of all

murder cases is the highest, reaching 76.3 and 77.6 percent respectively

(). The Homicide Report of the Los Angeles Times showed 2,329

homicides in Los Angeles County from January 1, 2007 to November 14, 2010, with

victims of 1,600 Latinos and 997 black people (/homicide/map/).

Racial hate crimes are frequent. The FBI said in an annual report that out of 6,604 hate

crimes committed in the United States in 2009, some 4,000 were racially motivated and

nearly 1,600 were driven by hatred for a particular religion. Overall, some 8,300 people fell

victim to hate crimes in 2009. Blacks made up around three-quarters of victims of the

racially motivated hate crimes and Jews made up the same percentage of victims of

anti-religious hate crimes. Two-thirds of the 6,225 known perpetrators of all U.S. hate

crimes were white (AFP, November 22, 2010).

Immigrants' rights and interests are not guaranteed. Lawmakers in the Arizona Senate in

April 2010 passed a bill to curb illegal immigration. The law requires state and local police

to determine the status of people if there is "reasonable suspicion" that they are illegal

immigrants and to arrest people who are unable to provide documentation proving they

are in the country legally (The Los Angeles Times, April 13, 2010). Another proposed

Arizona law, supported by Republicans of the state, would deny birth certificates to

children born in the United States to illegal immigrant parents (CNN U.S., June 15, 2010).

A group of UN human rights experts on migrants, racism, minorities, indigenous people,

education and cultural rights expressed serious concern over the laws enacted by the

state of Arizona, saying that "a disturbing pattern of legislative activity hostile to ethnic

minorities and immigrants has been established". The Arizona immigration law requires

state law enforcement officers to arrest a person, without a warrant. It also makes it a

crime to be in the country illegally, and specifically targets day laborers, making it a crime

for an undocumented migrant to solicit work, and for any person to hire or seek to hire an

undocumented migrant. The law may lead to detaining and subjecting to interrogation

persons primarily on the basis of their perceived ethnic characteristics. In Arizona,

persons who appear to be of Mexican, Latin American, or indigenous origin are especially

at risk of being targeted under the law. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported on

November 19, 2010 that a large group of human rights organizations prepared to hold a

vigil in South Georgia in support of suspected illegal immigrants being held in a prison in

Lumpkin. As of September 17, 2010, the prison was holding 1,890 inmates. Court cases

for inmates at the prison were pending for 63 days on average. With regard to immigration

detainees, the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants said, in a report to the

Human Rights Council in April 2010, that he received reports of detainees being willfully

and maliciously denied proper medical treatment, to which they are entitled by legislation,

while they are in the custody of the national authorities. The Special Rapporteur observed

during his country missions that irregular migrant workers are often homeless or living in

crowded, unsafe and unsanitary conditions (UN document A/HRC/14/30).

V. On the rights of women and children

The situation regarding the rights of women and children in the United States is bothering.

Gender discrimination against women widely exists in the United States. According to a

report released on August 11, 2010 by the Daily Mail, 90 percent of women have suffered

some form of sexual discrimination in the workplace. Just 3 percent of Fortune 500 CEOs

are women. A report by the American Association of University Women released on

March 22, 2010 showed that women earned only 21 percent of doctorate degrees in

computer science, around one-third of the doctorates in earth, atmospheric, and ocean

sciences, chemistry, and math. Women doing the same work as men often get less

payment in the United States. According to a report on September 17, 2010 by the

Washington Post, in nearly 50 years, the wage gap has narrowed by only 18 cents. The

census report released on September 16, 2010 showed that working women are paid only

77 cents for every dollar earned by a man. The New York Times reported on April 26,

2010 that Wal-Mart was accused of systematically paying women less than men, giving

them smaller raises and offering women fewer opportunities for promotion in the biggest

employment discrimination case in the nation's history. The plaintiffs stressed that while

65 percent of Wal-Mart's hourly employees were women, only 33 percent of the

company's managers were (The New York Times, April 26, 2010).

Women in the United States often experience sexual assault and violence. Statistics

released in October 2010 by the National Institute of Justice show that some 20 million

women are rape victims in the country

(/opa/pr/2010/october/). About 60,000 female prisoners

fall victims to sexual assault or violence every year. Some one fifth female students on

campus are victims of sexual assault, and 60 percent of campus rape cases occurred in

female students' dorms (World Journal, August 26, 2010).

According to the Human Rights Watch report released in August last year, 50 detainees in

the Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers have been alleged victims of

sexual assault since 2003. Most of these victims were women, and some of the alleged

assailants, including prison guards, were not prosecuted. In one case, a guard in a Texas

detention center pretended to be a doctor and sexually assaulted five women in the

center's infirmary (World Journal, August 26, 2010). According to figures from Pentagon,

cited by the Time magazine on March 8, 2010, nearly 3,000 female soldiers were sexually

assaulted in fiscal year 2008, up 9 percent from the year before. Close to one third of the

retired female soldiers said they were victims of rape or assault while they were serving.

Women are also victims of domestic violence. In the United States, some 1.3 million

people fall victim to domestic violence every year, and women account for 92 percent.

One in four women is a victim of domestic violence at some point during her life, and the

violence kills three women each day in the United States by a current or former intimate

partner (CNN, October 21, 2010). In 2008, police in the New York City received reports of

more than 230,000 domestic violence cases, which equals to 600 cases per day (China

Press, April 3, 2010). In all homicide cases in 2009, of the female murder victims for whom

their relationships to the offenders were known, 34.6 percent were murdered by their

husbands or boyfriends (). In the Santa Clara County in California, police

receive more than 4,500 domestic violence related calls every year, and more than 700

women and children live in shelters to avoid domestic violence (World Journal, October 15,

2010; China Press, October 9, 2010).

Women's health rights are not properly protected in the United States. According to the

Amnesty International, more than two women die every day in the United States from

complications of pregnancy and childbirth. African-American women are nearly four times

more likely to die of pregnancy-related complications than white women in the past 20

years. Native American and Alaska Native women are 3.6 times, African-American

women 2.6 times and Latina women 2.5 times more likely than white women to receive no

or late pre-natal care (UN document A/HRC/14/NGO/13).

Children in the U.S. live in poverty. The Washington Post reported on November 21, 2010,

that nearly one in four children struggles with hunger, citing the U.S. Department of

Agriculture. More than 60 percent of public school teachers identify hunger as a problem

in the classroom. Roughly the same percentage go into their own pockets to buy food for

their hungry students (The Washington Post, November 21, 2010). According to figures

released on Sept. 16, 2010 by the U.S. Census Bureau, the poverty rate increased for

children younger than 18 to 20.7 percent in 2009, up 1.7 percentage points from that in

2008 (). Poverty among black children in the Washington D.C. is as high

as 43 percent (The Washington Post, September 29, 2010), and some 2.7 million children

in California live in impoverished families. The number of poor children in six counties in

the San Francisco Bay Area has increased by 15 to 16 percent. Statistics show that at

least 17 million children in the United States lived in food insecure households in 2009

(World Journal, May 8, 2010).

Violence against children is very severe. Figures from the official website of Love Our

Children USA show that every year over 3 million children are victims of violence

reportedly and the actual number is 3 times greater. Almost 1.8 million are abducted and

nearly 600,000 children live in foster care. Every day one out of seven kids and teens are

approached online by predators, and one out of four kids are bullied and 43 percent of

teens and 97 percent of middle schoolers are cyberbullied. Nine out of 10 LGBT students

experienced harassment at school. As many as 160,000 students stay home on any given

day because they' re afraid of being bullied (). According to a

report released on October 20, 2010 by the Washington Post, 17 percent of American

students report being bullied two to three times a month or more within a school semester.

Bullying is most prevalent in third grade, when almost 25 percent of students reported

being bullied two, three or more times a month. According to a UN report of the Special

Rapporteur on the right to education, 20 states and hundreds of school districts in the

United States still permit schools to administer corporal punishment in some form, and

students with mental or physical disabilities are more likely to suffer physical punishment

(UN document A/HRC/14/25/ADD.1).

Children' s physical and mental health is not ensured. More than 93,000 children are

currently incarcerated in the United States, and between 75 and 93 percent of children

have experienced at least one traumatic experience, including sexual abuse and neglect

(The Washington Post, July 9, 2010). According to a report made by the Child Fatality

Review Team from the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene,

between 2001 and 2008, injury-related deaths among children aged one to 12 years old in

the United States was 8.9 deaths per 100,000. The figure for those in the New York City

was 4.2 deaths per 100,000 (China Press, July 3, 2010). Thirteen children and young

adults have died at a Chicago care facility for children with severe disabilities since 2000

due to failure to take basic steps to care for them (Chicago Tribune, October 10, 2010).

According to a study published on October 14, 2010 in the Journal of the American

Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, about half of American teens aged between

13 and 19 met the criteria for a mental disorder. Fifty-one percent of boys and 49 percent

of girls aged 13 to 19 had a mood, behavior, anxiety or substance use disorder, and the

disorder in 22.2 percent of teens was so severe it impaired their daily activities (World

Journal, October 15, 2010). Pornographic content is rampant on the Internet and severely

harms American children. Statistics show that seven in 10 children have accidentally

accessed pornography on the Internet and one in three has done so intentionally. And the

average age of exposure is 11 years old - some start at eight years old (The Washington

Times, June 16, 2010). According to a survey commissioned by the National Campaign to

Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, 20 percent of American teens have sent or

posted nude or seminude pictures or videos of themselves. (,

March 23, 2010). At least 500 profit-oriented nude chat websites were set up by teens in

the United States, involving tens of thousands of pornographic pictures.

Broad Vision, Shared Prosperity

Remarks by H.E. Hu Jintao

President of the People's Republic of China

At the BRICS Leaders Meeting

Sanya, 14 April 2011

Dear Colleagues,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It gives me great pleasure to meet you once again and discuss with you the plans for

BRICS cooperation and development. Let me begin by extending, on behalf of the

Chinese government and people and in my own name, warm welcome to all the leaders

and delegates present at the meeting.

The second decade of the 21st century has just begun. In the past decade, our world went

through major development, major changes and major adjustments. The trend of peace,

development and cooperation gained stronger momentum. The world moved further

towards multi-polarity and economic globalization. New changes took place in the global

economic governance and new breakthroughs were in the making in scientific and

technological innovation. Emerging market economies engaged in dynamic cooperation.

All these have brought valuable opportunities to the development of all countries.

On the other hand, the last decade also witnessed incessant international and regional

hotspots which undermined world peace and stability. Development imbalance between

the North and the South remained an acute problem. Global challenges such as climate

change, environmental degradation, energy and resources security, serious

communicable diseases and major natural disasters raised wide concerns. Today, we are

still confronted with the underlying impact of the financial crisis. Rising commodity prices

and inflationary pressure has added to the uncertainties of the world economic recovery.

Global financial governance remains a daunting task. The recent political turbulence and

even war in some west Asian and north African countries have affected regional stability.

There is indeed a long way to go before lasting peace and common prosperity can be

achieved.

Opportunities should be seized and challenges properly addressed. At this historic

juncture when we usher in the second decade of the 21st century, we all need to reflect on

one major topic: How to bring about a peaceful and tranquil 21st century in which

humanity can enjoy common prosperity? I wish to share with you my observations in this

regard.

First, we should endeavor to maintain world peace and stability. Peace and stability form

the prerequisite and foundation for development. The two world wars in the last century

caused mankind untold sufferings and world economic and social development severe

setbacks. It is mainly due to the relatively peaceful and stable international environment

that the world economy has been able to grow at a fast pace in the post-war era. The

World Bank statistics show that none of the countries persistently under violent conflict

has achieved the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). To maintain world peace

and stability so that the people can live a happy and prosperous life is the primary

responsibility for governments and leaders of all countries.

We should abide by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and bring into full play

the central role of the United Nations and its Security Council in peace keeping, peace

making and peace building. We should seek peaceful settlement of international disputes

through dialogue and consultation.

All countries, big or small, strong or weak, rich or poor, are equal members of the

international community. We should work for common security in a spirit of democracy,

inclusiveness, cooperation and win-win progress. Internal affairs of a country should be

handled independently by the country itself and international affairs should be managed

collectively through consultation by all. We should be committed to multilateralism and

international cooperation, and promote democracy in international relations.

We should foster an international environment that supports efforts of countries to achieve

peace, stability and prosperity in the light of their national circumstances. We should

respect the sovereignty of all countries and their right to choose their development paths

and models in keeping with the principle of seeking common ground while shelving

differences. And we should respect the diversity of civilizations and pursue common

progress through mutual learning and drawing on each other's strength.

Second, we should endeavor to promote common development of all countries. The

international financial crisis has aroused much thinking and discussion about world

economic imbalances. In the final analysis, the biggest imbalance in the world economy is

the development imbalance between the North and the South and the most fundamental

problem in the world economy is the inadequate development of developing countries.

Without economic development of the developing countries, there can be no sustained

and stable growth in the world economy. We need to renew our commitment to the

development of developing countries and promote world economic recovery and growth.

We should put in place a fair and effective global development system, enhance

development institutions, increase resources for development and work to fully attain the

UN MDGs. We should uphold the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities"

and work together to meet the global climate challenge. We should jointly uphold energy

security in line with the principle of mutually beneficial cooperation, diversified

development and coordinated energy supply. We should formulate a long-term

international food cooperation strategy and ensure food security for all.

We should establish fair, just, inclusive and well-managed international monetary and

financial systems to support global economic development and increase the say and

representation of emerging markets and developing countries in these systems.

We should set up a just and equitable international free trade system, oppose

protectionism in all its forms, strengthen the multilateral trading regime and push for early

attainment of the goals of a development round at the Doha Round negotiations.

Third, we should endeavor to bolster international exchanges and cooperation. We all live

on the same planet. Countries are now interconnected and interdependent with their

interests more closely interwoven than at any time in history. The future and destiny of

one country is increasingly tied to that of the world. To work with each other through thick

and thin serves the common interests of all countries.

We should make full use of the multilateral cooperation mechanisms at various levels,

including the UN, the Group of 20 and the BRICS, to carry out practical and effective

cooperation. Being the most universal, representative and authoritative

inter-governmental international organization, the United Nations should always play a

central role in international affairs. The G20 should continue to serve as the premier

platform for global economic governance. Cooperation mechanisms among emerging

market economies represented by the BRICS are enjoying robust development. They

constitute a new model of global economic cooperation and an important way of pursuing

multilateralism. They can continue to play an active role in boosting cooperation among

emerging market economies.

Fourth, we should endeavor to strengthen the BRICS partnership for common

development. Over the past five years since its inception, BRICS cooperation has made

steady headway. The scope of the cooperation has been broadening and the levels

increasing. A multi-tiered and wide-ranging cooperation structure has taken shape. Facts

have shown that BRICS cooperation has contributed not only to the economic and social

development of our five countries, but also to world peace and development. We should

build on what we have achieved and plan for the future. We should stick to the basic

principles of solidarity, mutual trust, openness, transparency and common development.

Let us enhance mutual trust through cooperation and always be good friends and good

partners. Our cooperation is open and transparent, and is aimed at mutual benefit and

common development. We should stay firmly committed to the common interests of

BRICS countries, step up coordination in the international economic, financial and

development fields and strengthen the standing and role of emerging markets and

developing countries in global economic governance. We should continue to deepen

practical cooperation, vigorously tap our cooperation potential in economy, trade, health

and sister-city relationships, and strive for fruitful results of our cooperation in various

fields so as to further strengthen the economic and social foundation for BRICS

cooperation.

Dear Colleagues,

Over the past 30 years and more since reform and opening-up, China has made

remarkable achievements in its development. In the past decade, China imported 687

billion U.S. dollars of goods on average every year, creating over 13 million jobs in related

countries and regions. In 2010, China achieved a 10.3 percent GDP growth and made an

important contribution to world economic recovery. This fully shows that China's

development is part of the world development and the better China develops, the greater

the contribution it will make to the world.

At the same time, we are keenly aware that China has a large population and a weak

economic foundation. Our development is uneven and per capita GDP low. We face

considerable resources and environmental constraints in pursuing economic development.

More than 100 million people live below the poverty line set by the UN. All these are our

challenges, and we must make arduous efforts in order to achieve our development goals.

The Chinese government formulated and promulgated the Outline of the 12th Five-Year

Plan not long ago. The Outline sets out the guiding principles, strategic objectives and

major tasks for China's economic and social development in the coming five years. We

will be committed to scientific development, and focus on accelerating the transformation

of the economic development pattern. We will advance economic restructuring at a faster

pace, strengthen capacity for innovation, ensure energy conservation and emission

reduction, and deepen reform and opening up. We will take greater steps to protect and

improve people's well-being and promote social equity and justice. We will strive for

sustained, steady and relatively fast economic development, and promote social stability

and harmony. We will ensure that our development is for the people and by the people,

and the development achievements are shared among the people.

I am convinced that a China with more sustainable development, greater social harmony,

better institutions and greater openness will not only bring more benefits to its 1.3 billion

people, but also make greater contribution to world peace and development.

China will continue to advocate peace, development and cooperation, and remain

committed to the independent foreign policy of peace, the path of peaceful development

and the win-win strategy of opening-up. China welcomes the participation of all countries

in its development endeavor. We will share development opportunities with other

countries, and expand the dimensions of opening up. We will contribute to the

development of the region and the world through our development and share prosperity

with people around the world.

Dear colleagues, let us work together to build a harmonious world of lasting peace and

common prosperity.

Chinese state councilor makes proposal to promote China-U.S. people-to-people

exchanges

BOSTON, April 14 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Chinese State Councilor Liu Yandong has put

forward a series of proposals to promote people-to-people and cultural exchanges

between China and the United States, officials with her delegation said Thursday.

Advancing the Sino-U.S. cooperative partnership demands the broad participation from

the two peoples, Liu said in a speech delivered Wednesday at the Massachusetts Institute

of Technology ( MIT). She urged both sides to take concrete measures to strengthen

people-to-people and cultural exchanges.

The two sides must consolidate the social foundation of bilateral friendship by promoting

the mutual understanding and trust between the two peoples and nurturing the public

support for long-term friendship between the two countries, she said.

The state councilor called for the two countries to forge the spirit of mutual respect,

openness, and inclusiveness in the people-to-people exchanges, treat others as equals,

seek common ground while reserving differences.

She also proposed carrying out wide-ranging exchange activities with clear priorities,

deepening exchanges in the fields of education, science, technology, culture, sports,

women and youth.

The two sides should be open-mined and create the conditions to facilitate both official

and non-officials exchanges involving schools, enterprises, communities and various

other institutions, Liu said, adding that universities, where diverse civilizations meet and

blend, should take on greater responsibilities in China-U. S. people-to-people and cultural

exchanges.

She spoke highly of the contributions MIT has made in promoting China-U.S. educational

and cultural exchanges, as well as enhancing the mutual understanding and friendship

between the two peoples.

During her speech, Liu also highlighted the importance China attaches to its relations with

the U.S., and gave a detailed introduction about China's 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015)

for socioeconomic development.

After the speech, she answered questions by MIT teachers and students on topics

including the outlook of China-U.S. people-to- people exchanges, the comparison

between the two countries' education systems, and professional ethics for scientists.

Susan Hockfield, president of MIT, said that Liu's speech provided rich information for the

university's teachers and students to have a comprehensive understanding of China.

MIT has strengthened its cooperation with China in recent years, jointly launched many

innovative programs which benefited the university a lot, she said, adding that MIT is

hoping to deepen its cooperation with Chinese universities.

the most economically powerful developing country, with relatively weak soft power

compared with U.S. E.U. and Japan.

- an Asian country whose interests and influence has swept around the globe, however

does not necessarily means a leading country in Asia

- a unique socialist country, however still disturbed by the national separatism and

experiencing the historical transformation

- a beneficiary, participator and the reformer of existing international political economy

order, while restrained by West current world’s rule maker