Criticism of Iran and China's Human Rights Record in the 2018 U.S. State Department Report

As the U.S. State Department released its annual report on human rights conditions in various countries, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo criticized Iran for its ongoing violations of the fundamental rights of its people and China for trampling the rights of Muslims in the country. According to the Associated Press, the report appears to have taken a relatively softer stance on North Korea. This report tracks the human rights records of governments around the world throughout 2018 and highlights instances of human rights violations. On Wednesday, March 13, during a meeting in Washington to unveil this report, Mr. Pompeo stated that Iran's human rights record in 2018 was 'extremely weak' and had worsened in some areas. He reminded that during last year's protests in Iran, dozens were killed and thousands were detained by the government. Mr. Pompeo referred to the protests of December 2017, which were in response to the country's political and economic situation. The U.S. Secretary of State stated that strong and independent countries with which the U.S. has close and long-standing relations fundamentally respect human rights aspects, such as freedom of expression, religion, belief, and assembly, and are not involved in severe human rights violations, such as extrajudicial killings, torture, and prolonged detentions. However, according to Mike Pompeo, governments that threaten regional stability, support terrorism, and have become magnets for terrorists are the same governments that have failed to respect the rights of their people. At the same time, the U.S. Secretary of State noted that there are countries considered friends and allies of the U.S. that also violate human rights, and the U.S. monitors and reports these cases as well. According to Mr. Pompeo, if U.S. interests require, Washington will engage in dialogue with governments, regardless of their performance record. The U.N. reporter stated that repression in Iran has intensified. The press conference by the U.S. Secretary of State and the annual report of this ministry on the global human rights situation were released this year amid significant criticism regarding the long-term prison sentence issued for Nasrin Sotoudeh, a prominent lawyer and human rights activist in Iran, which has become a symbol of gross violations of human rights for the people and defenders of fundamental freedoms in Iran. Ms. Sotoudeh's family emphasizes that this human rights activist has been sentenced to 38 years in prison and about 150 lashes, but subsequent reports claimed that part of her sentence that must be executed is 7 to 10 years. The U.S. State Department has strongly condemned the prison sentence against Ms. Sotoudeh. This week, the issuance of long-term prison sentences for protesting dervishes in Iran, who have long been imprisoned in Fashafouyeh prison, was also interpreted as another symbol of the lack of real justice in the judicial process in this country; one of the dervishes was sentenced to 26 years in prison, while the others received shorter sentences. The annual human rights report from the U.S. is published in a week when Ebrahim Raisi, whose human rights record has faced severe criticism, emphasized at the beginning of his term as the new head of the judiciary that the views of Ali Khamenei, the leader of the government, will be at the forefront of this judiciary's attention during his presidency. Criticism of the violation of Muslim rights in China. In his Wednesday meeting, the U.S. Secretary of State also stated that more than one million Uyghur, Kazakh, and other Muslim minorities in China have been sent to camps aimed at re-education to distance them from their religion and ethnic origins. The U.S. has emphasized in its annual human rights report regarding China that the fundamental rights and basic freedoms of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang province have been violated. Mike Pompeo stated that Washington will impose sanctions on Chinese officials for violating the rights of Uyghurs and other Muslims in Xinjiang province. Alongside criticism of Iran and China, he also criticized the governments of South Sudan and Nicaragua for violating the fundamental rights of their people. Regarding North Korea, Mr. Pompeo referred to extrajudicial killings, the government's involvement in disappearances, and torture. However, according to the Associated Press, the tone of the U.S. State Department's report regarding North Korea has softened; Donald Trump, the U.S. President, met with Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, once in 2018 and again in 2019, although the second meeting ended prematurely without achieving specific results. For years, North Korea has been referred to as one of the governments that has committed the most egregious human rights violations against its people. The U.S. State Department's annual report condemned the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed and dismembered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018, but according to the Associated Press, it did not mention Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi crown prince, who is believed by senior U.S. senators to be the potential instigator of the murder. Some news agencies also claim that this year's U.S. State Department report has apparently made few references to the Saudi government's crackdowns on women's rights activists in the country. Israeli media have also noted that the U.S. State Department's annual report describes the Golan Heights for the first time not as occupied territory but as a region within Israel's territory. This report, for the second year, has omitted the term 'occupied' regarding the situation in Gaza and the West Bank; the U.S. State Department stated last year that the use of different phrases does not imply a change in policy and that it has been decided for the convenience of report readers to mention the geographical names of the areas where human rights of the residents have been monitored.