Human Rights situation in certain countries
2020 is the year of the 75th anniversary of the Great Victory over Nazism. The Second World War caused unspeakable sufferings to mankind. An attempt to put in practice one of the ideological pillars of the National Socialism, that is the theory of racial superiority, resulted in tens of millions of victims.
1945 is the starting point in the creation of the international system for promotion and protection of human rights. The victory in the Second World War created conditions for the establishment of the United Nations and for the elaboration of such fundamental document as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which was adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 10, 1948. Later on, it was complemented with multilateral treaties, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and Convention on the Rights of the Child, as well as other international instruments on various aspects of human rights. All these major treaties provide a basis for the development of multilateral international cooperation in the area of human rights, as well as a legal framework to counter negative developments in the area.
There has developed over the years a whole system of international global and regional mechanisms designed to monitor and protect human rights. At the global level, such mechanisms include UN treaty bodies monitoring the implementation by the States Parties of their obligations under the relevant human rights instruments. Major human rights events had been regularly held by the OSCE – in Helsinki, Copenhagen, Vienna and elsewhere. A number of mechanisms based on the 1950 European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and other international instruments are also active in the framework of the Council of Europe.
Human rights are a major universal (in terms of applicability) institution of both contemporary international and national constitutional law. In national legal systems, human rights constitute an important element of the national body of law.
Legal obligations, per se, do not provide an unconditional guarantee of the observation of law as that requires relevant implementation mechanisms to be in place. In addition, political will and other factors can be as instrumental in ensuring respect for human rights as their legal recognition.
Despite multiple discussions at various levels on the principle of universality of human rights and seemingly general understanding of the essence of the matter, the issue of human rights is still used by some countries as a prefect for interference in internal affairs of independent states in violation of their sovereignty. Moreover, as a result of manipulations with regard to that basic principle and human rights as a whole there has developed a double standard approach to assessing various situations and phenomena.
In addition, historical truth has been often sacrificed for the sake of political expediency. Unfortunately, attempts to revise history, especially with regard to the period of the World War II are not a new phenomenon. And one should note that the word "revise" is quite a euphemism. Putting it bluntly, we face a systemic policy of falsification and distortion of history, including with a view to revising the outcomes of the World War II and understating or even distorting the role of the USSR in defeating Nazism and fascism. An idea is promoted that the Nazi regime recognized as criminal by the Nuremberg Tribunal was, in fact, quite a match to the regime of the state which was one of the leading member of the anti-Hitler coalition and a founder of the UN. Events of the past have become subject to selective citing with unsavoury episodes of the history of Europe, such as the Anschluss of Austria, the Munich Conspiracy and German invasion of Poland, that preceded the World War II being completely hushed up.
Of special concern is the campaign aimed at rewriting the history of the Second World War which is underway in the space of the European Union and in the United States, Canada and Ukraine, as are cynical attempts to whitewash war criminals and their accomplices – those who created and used to implement the theory of racial superiority, or to present Nazi collaborators as participants in national liberation movements, as well as blasphemous efforts by political elites of a number of Western and East European countries to erase historical memory. Such irresponsible actions incompatible with international obligations have led to the emergence in Europe and the United States of a generation that does not know the truth about the most horrible war in the history of mankind, including the truth about the mission and numerous war crimes of the Waffen SS recognized as a criminal organization by the Nuremberg Tribunal. We are also concerned about a growing number of xenophobic and racist incidents, and manifestations of violent nationalism, chauvinism and other forms of racial and religious intolerance in the countries mentioned above, as well as in some other countries where the allegedly absolute character of the freedom of opinion is invoked to justify the lack of response to such incidents and manifestations.
That complex issue problem is a subject of a separate report by the Russian Foreign Ministry devoted to the situation with regard to the glorification of Nazism and the spread of neo-Nazism and other practices contributing to the escalation of modern forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance. Information on their manifestations in various countries provided in this report is supposed to complement that report in terms of analysis of modern forms of Nazism.
The war waged against historical truth creates, directly or indirectly, new threats for the modern society. Of serious concern is a new trend followed by racist and xenophobic ideologies, the one to incorporate populist ideas to recruit new followers. Of even greater concern is the increasing involvement of young people in radical movements. A significant factor contributing to these trends is the connivance of the authorities which often turn a blind eye to extremists and even pander to them to divert public attention fr om pressing issues.
This is especially graphic in the European continent. It is with great concern that we watch Nazi and ultraright organizations getting increasingly rampant in a number of European countries, as well as on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. It is a well-known phenomenon: various radical forces and movements propagating aggressive and nationalistic ideas become increasingly popular in periods of economic and social distress. Calls can often be heard in such periods to deal with those "responsible" for the misfortunes. All that leads to an increasingly hostile attitude to migrants and refugees, and to the aggravation of interethnic, interreligious and intercultural conflicts. Political hatred and right‑wing extremism directed against Muslims and refugees have become a fact of life in all European countries. We also witness the increased use of Internet to incite hatred, and that trend correlates with the incidence of actual racist crimes and abuses.
One should also mention that Europe which is a part of the Christian civilization has become lately a stage of increasingly frequent attacks against traditional values organized by those who propagate ultraliberal ideas, who try to impose on others their perceptions of justice, responsibility, sense of duty, cooperation, etc. and who attempt to replace such values with the notions of permissiveness and moral relativism. In fact, one can talk about the discrimination of the Christian majority versus supporters of ultraliberal values.
The above trends have seriously aggravated the human rights situation of national minorities and ethnic groups, including, first of all, with regard to their linguistic and educational rights. Of special concern in that context is the situation of the Russian-speaking population in the Baltic countries and Ukraine. Measures adopted by their authorities can only be described as discriminatory.
Studies conducted by specialized national bodies, academic circles and non-governmental organizations reveal a range of problems faced by a number of Western countries. One of them is a high incidence of racist attitudes and prejudices. Also widely spread are such phenomena as Afrophobia, Islamophobia and anti-Semitism. In March 2018, the Institute of Economic and Social Studies and the Irish Commission for Human Rights and Equality have carried out a study on the public attitude towards ethnic diversity and race. As a result, on the basis of data compiled in the framework of the European social study, it was found that 14 per cent of the population of ten of EC Member States believe that people belonging to some ethnic groups "are born less intelligent" and that about 45 per cent of the respondents are of the view that "some cultures are superior to others" while 40 per cent of them believe that people belonging to some races "are born more industrious".
There remains a significant employment gap between various groups of population and a high level of discrimination in the fields of employment and education. In most cases, the discrimination is even more pronounced wh ere there is a combination of factors, such as sex, age, color, religion and social background. A related and frequent problem is the reluctance of victims of discrimination to report it to the relevant authorities for the lack of confidence in the latter or for fear that their situation might get even worse.
In European countries, as well as in the United States and Canada there has been a trend towards racial and ethnic profiling by law-enforcement officers, and the latter do not even deny that as revealed by the studies conducted by human rights organizations. Moreover, the law-enforcement bodies have no means to prevent that practice. There does not exist a clear-cut and consistent policy supported with relevant guidelines with regard to identity checks. Also, there is often no training offered on the subject.
Another frequently manifest problem is a hostile attitude towards Roma people. Media often reports about the demolition of Roma dwellings and their evictions, as well as about their discrimination in the area of education, healthcare and employment.
The situation with migrants has also been in the focus of attention of human rights organizations as problems in that area exist in many European countries and in the United States. Complaints relate to the practice of expulsion of illegal immigrants and to their blocking at borders to prevent them from applying for asylum. Grievances are expressed with regard to the separation of family members, lengthy periods of consideration of asylum applications and inadequate living conditions in migration centers which are often overcrowded and lack basic infrastructure.
A separate and important block of problems relates to the abuse of power by law-enforcement bodies which often results in the death of suspects. There are frequent reports about the excessive use of force and the use of riot control weapons against peaceful protestors and, indeed, media people who also often get into trouble when covering protests.
Deficiencies can also be found in the functioning of the judicial system in a number of countries. Political expediency sometimes prevails in their work over legal norms.
Human rights activists often criticize the widespread practice of surveillance of mass media and civil society leaders conducted by law‑enforcement agencies and security services. To that end, the latter illegally monitor personal contacts of people and keep an eye on them using advanced technologies, such as a face recognition system. In fact, they intrude upon the privacy of people. There are frequent reports about pressure brought to bear on civil society and human rights activists who oppose mainstream views.
Trends of that kind pose, in our opinion, a direct threat to the basic values of democracy and human rights, and present a major challenge to international and regional stability as a whole. We are convinced that one of the most effective means to deal with that is an equal international cooperation among states in strict conformity with international law and such principles as respect for sovereignty, non-interference and non‑use of human rights as an instrument of political pressure. All relevant parties should follow that approach while abandoning double standards and narrow political considerations.
This report is a continuation of efforts by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation to draw international public attention to the increased incidence of human rights violations observed in a number of countries. The study covers the human rights situation in individual countries, including those that list themselves among advanced democracies claiming to set standards in the area of protection of human rights, as well as those that associate themselves with the latter. Such countries often try to "export" democratic and human rights standards invoking their universal character and actively criticize the human rights situation in dissenting countries pursuing independent foreign policy agendas and asserting their own historical, cultural and religious values and norms.
Based on data from international and national sources, and reports by human rights organizations, the report summarizes factual information on human rights violations in the above-mentioned category of countries and attempts to single out developments of systemic nature. It takes into account recommendations of international global and regional human rights mechanisms, including treaty bodies and regional (particularly European) human rights institutions, in respect of those countries. In that context, we would like to make a special reference to very substantive studies on the human rights situation in the United States prepared by the Chinese Human Rights Research Society.
We hope that the threat to democratic and human rights values will be recognized not only by civil society organizations and experts but also states mentioned in the report, including their legislative and executive bodies. At the same time, a formal recognition will not be enough. What is needed are concrete resolute measures, including an unbiased effective monitoring of human rights, as well as consistent follow-up steps and steps to ensure effective functioning of the existing mechanisms and to prevent their politicization in the interests of certain factions.
