2019年美国侵犯人权报告
The Record of Human Rights Violations in the United States in 2019
中华人民共和国国务院新闻办公室
State Council Information Office of the People's Republic of China
2020年3月
March 2020
目录
Contents
序言
Foreword
一、公民权利和政治权利有名无实
I. Civil and Political Rights in Name Only
二、经济和社会权利缺乏基本保障
II. Absence of Basic Guarantee of Social and Economic Rights
三、少数族裔饱受欺凌排斥
III. Ethnic Minorities Suffer from Bullying and Exclusion
四、妇女面临严重歧视与暴力
IV. Severe Discrimination and Violence Against Women
五、弱势群体处境艰难
V. Vulnerable Groups Living in Difficulties
六、移民遭受非人道对待
VI. Migrants Suffer Inhumane Treatment
七、肆意践踏他国人权
VII. The United States Wantonly Trampled on Human Rights in Other Countries
序言
Foreword
美国国务卿蓬佩奥2019年4月15日在演讲时说:“我们撒谎,我们欺骗,我们偷窃……这才是美国不断探索进取的荣耀。”
"We lied, we cheated, we stole ... It reminds you of the glory of the American experiment," said US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in a speech on April 15, 2019.
美国政客的言论彻底暴露了其在人权问题上奉行双重标准、以人权维护霸权的虚伪面目。
The remarks of US politicians have completely exposed their hypocrisy of adopting double standards on human rights issues and using them to maintain hegemony.
美国号称人权立国,以世界人权卫士自居,以自身对人权的狭隘理解为框架,以称霸全球的核心利益为标尺,每年根据捕风捉影、道听途说的材料拼凑出年度国别人权报告,对不符合其战略利益的国家和地区的人权状况肆意歪曲贬低,却对自身持续性、系统化、大规模侵犯人权的斑斑劣迹置若罔闻、熟视无睹。
The United States claims to be founded on human rights, touting itself as a world human rights defender. Following a framework of its own narrow understanding of human rights and using its core interests of pursuing global hegemony as a yardstick, the United States released annual reports on other countries' human rights every year by piecing together innuendoes and hearsay. These reports wantonly distorted and belittled human rights situation in countries and regions that did not conform to US strategic interests, but turned a deaf ear and a blind eye to the persistent, systematic and large-scale human rights violations in the United States.
本报告所依据的资料,来源于各类公开发布的数据、报道及研究成果。报告中的事实证明,近年来,特别是2019年以来,美国的人权状况乏善可陈,呈日益恶化之势。
This report is based on a variety of published data, reports and research findings. The facts detailed in the report prove that in recent years, especially since 2019, the human rights situation in the United States has been poor and deteriorating.
——美国是世界上枪支暴力最严重的国家。2019年共发生415起大规模枪击事件,平均每天超过一起;共有39052人死于与枪支有关的暴力事件,每15分钟就有一人被枪杀。《今日美国报》评论称,“美国或已步入大规模枪击时代”。
— The United States is a country with the worst gun violence in the world. The number of mass killings in the United States hit a record high of 415 in 2019, with more than one happening for every day of the year. In total 39,052 people died from gun related violence in the United States in 2019. A person is killed with a gun in the United States every 15 minutes. “This seems to be the age of mass shootings,” commented USA Today.
——选举沦为富人的金钱游戏。2018年中期选举支出高达57亿美元,成为有史以来最昂贵的国会选举;10个最大的个人捐助者向超级政治行动委员会注资4.36亿美元。2020年总统选举筹资竞赛日趋狂热,所有参选人已筹集超过10.8亿美元竞选资金。
— Elections have become money games for the rich. Spending in the 2018 elections for Congress topped $5.7 billion, making the battle for control of the House and Senate the most expensive midterm ever. In 2018, the 10 largest individual donors funneled more than $436 million to Super PACs (political action committees) in the midterm elections. The race to raise money for the 2020 presidential election is heating up. Candidates have raised more than $1.08 billion for the election.
——美国在西方国家中贫富分化最为严重。2018年基尼系数攀升至0.485,贫富差距创50年来新高。最富有的10%家庭占有美国全部家庭净资产的近75%。1989年至2018年,最底层50%的家庭财富净增长基本为零。
— The United States has the most serious polarization between the rich and poor among developed countries. The Gini Index grew to 0.485 in 2018, the highest level in 50 years. The wealthiest 10 percent of US households control nearly 75 percent of household net worth. The bottom 50 percent saw essentially zero net gains in wealth from 1989 to 2018.
——美国是目前唯一有数百万人处于饥饿状态的发达国家。人口普查局2018年的统计数据显示,美国有3970万贫困人口。每晚至少有50万美国人无家可归。有6500万人因医疗费用过高而放弃治疗。
— The United States is currently the only developed country where millions of people are hungry. There were 39.7 million people living in poverty in the United States, according to US Census Bureau figures released in 2018. On a single night in the previous year, more than half a million Americans lacked permanent shelter. There were 65 million adults who chose not to seek treatment for a medical issue because of the cost.
——美国种族仇恨犯罪震惊世界。美国白人至上主义回潮,国内近年来发生的恐怖活动大多与白人至上主义暴力有关。埃尔帕索沃尔玛超市枪击案致22人死亡,白人枪手的行凶动机是对拉美裔的种族仇恨。评论认为,“美国一直处在白人至上恐怖主义的危机之中”。
— Racial hate crimes in the United States have shocked the world. White supremacy in the United States has shown a resurgence trend. The majority of domestic terror related arrests were linked to white supremacist violence. A white man opened fire and killed 22 people at a Walmart superstore in El Paso, Texas. His motive was hatred toward Hispanics. "The United States has always been in the midst of a white nationalist terrorist crisis," said a comment.
——警察枪杀和残暴虐待非洲裔案件频发。非洲裔成年人被监禁的概率是白人成年人的5.9倍。联合国特别报告员指出,这种大规模的监禁是奴隶制及种族隔离所产生的余孽。
— Shootings and brutal abuse of African Americans by policemen are frequent. African American adults are 5.9 times more likely to be incarcerated than white adults. An UN Special Rapporteur called such racial disparities a vestige of slavery and racial segregation.
——就业和财富的种族差距惊人。在过去的40年里,非洲裔工人的失业率一直是白人的两倍。白人家庭的平均财富几乎是非洲裔家庭的10倍。以目前的趋势,非洲裔家庭积累的财富需要200多年才能达到白人家庭现在的水平。
— The racial gap in employment and wealth is striking. Over the past 40 years, workers of African descent have consistently endured an unemployment rate approximately twice that of their white counterparts. The typical wealth for a white household is nearly 10 times that for African Americans. If current trends continue, it could take more than 200 years for the average family of African descent to accumulate the same amount of wealth as its white counterparts.
——宗教不宽容持续恶化。皮尤研究中心的调查显示,82%的受访者认为穆斯林在美国面临歧视,64%的受访者认为犹太人在美国面临歧视。2018年,极端主义者制造了249起反犹事件。联合国报告认为,美国存在异常暴力化的反犹太主义。
— Religious intolerance continues to deteriorate. Pew Research Center surveys showed that about 82 percent of respondents say Muslims are subject to at least some discrimination in the United States. Some 64 percent say Jews face at least some discrimination in the United States. Extremists inspired by extremist ideology were responsible for 249 anti-Semitic incidents in 2018. An UN report noted the exceptionally violent anti-Semitic incidents in the United States.
——美国是高收入国家中女性处境最危险的国度。高收入国家被枪杀的女性中92%来自美国,美国女性被枪击致死的概率比其他高收入国家高21倍,美国平均每个月有52名女性被其伴侣枪杀致死。多达70%的美国女性曾遭受来自亲密伴侣的身体或性暴力。
— The United States has the most dangerous situation for women among high-income countries. In 2015, an astounding 92 percent of all women killed with guns in these countries were from the United States. Women in the United States were 21 times more likely to die by firearm homicide than women in peer nations. Every month, an average of 52 women were shot and killed by an intimate partner. Up to 70 percent of US women had experienced physical or sexual violence from an intimate partner in their lifetime.
——儿童贫困问题触目惊心。美国仍有1280万名儿童生活在贫困之中,5岁以下的贫困儿童数量多达350万,其中160万生活在极端贫困中。美国儿童保护基金批评道:“在全球最富有的国家,居然还有超过五分之一的儿童每天都不得不面对无比残酷的现实——下顿吃什么,今晚睡哪里?”
— Child poverty is a shocking problem. Around 12.8 million US children lived in poverty and a total of 3.5 million children under five were poor, with 1.6 million of those children living in extreme poverty. "No child should have to worry where her next meal will come from or whether she will have a place to sleep each night in the wealthiest nation on Earth," commented the Children's Defense Fund in a report, adding that yet "about one in five children in America lived in poverty and faced these harsh realities every day."
——老年人贫困问题越来越严重。美国60岁以上的老年人中,每12人中就有1人缺乏足够的食物,总人数达550万。大约40%的美国中产阶级到65岁时将接近或陷入贫困。
— Poverty among the elderly is becoming more and more serious. One in 12 seniors aged 60 and older — 5.5 million people — did not have enough food. About 40 percent of middle-class Americans would live close to or in poverty by the time they reach age 65.
——美国政府对待移民日趋严苛和非人道。“零容忍”政策导致大量儿童被迫与亲人分离。2017年7月以来,移民当局在边境将5400多名儿童与父母分离。2018年以来,共有包括7名儿童在内的24名移民在美国边境收容所拘留期间死亡。
— The US government's treatment of immigrants has become increasingly harsh and inhumane. The "zero-tolerance" policy caused the separations of many children from their families. US immigration authorities had separated more than 5,400 children from their parents at the Mexico border since July 2017. A total of 24 immigrants, including seven children, have died in US custody since 2018.
——美国堪称“世界历史上最好战的国家”。2001年以来,美国不断对外发动战争,花费的财政开支超过6.4万亿美元,造成的死亡人数超过80万,导致数千万人流离失所。
— The United States is "the most warlike nation in the history of the world." The United States has spent $6.4 trillion on wars it launched since 2001, which resulted in more than 800,000 deaths and left tens of millions displaced.
一、公民权利和政治权利有名无实
I. Civil and Political Rights in Name Only
美国自我标榜为“自由的乐土”和“民主的灯塔”,但这不过是愚弄民众、欺骗世界的虚构幻境。缺乏约束的持枪自由导致枪支暴力泛滥,对公民的生命、人身、财产安全构成了严重威胁;愈演愈烈的金钱政治扭曲民意,使所谓的民主选举沦为了富人的游戏。
The United States flaunts itself as "the land of freedom" and a "beacon of democracy," which, however, is just something imaginary that fools the people and the world. The lack of restraint in the right to hold guns has led to rampant gun violence, posing a serious threat to citizens' life and property safety. Worsening money politics distorts public opinion and makes the so-called democratic election a game for the rich.
政治裹挟下枪支泛滥成灾。美国的枪支制造、买卖和使用是一个巨大的产业链,形成了庞大的利益集团。全国步枪协会等利益集团为总统选举和国会选举提供大量的政治捐款。美国党派政治、选票政治、金钱政治的诸多弊端相互交织,使得立法和行政机构难以在枪支管控问题上有所作为,任由事态持续恶化。美国在线媒体2019年12月11日报道,美国是世界上私人拥有枪支数量最多的国家,枪支数量远远超过人口总数,2017年平均每百名居民拥有120.5支枪。美国进步中心网站2019年11月20日报道,2008年至2017年,美国至少有342439人被枪击致死,这意味着每15分钟就有一人被枪杀。2019年美国共有39052人死于与枪支有关的暴力事件。
Politics has led to a proliferation of guns. The manufacture, sale and use of guns in the United States is a huge industrial chain, forming a huge interest group. Interest groups such as the National Rifle Association made large political donations for presidential and congressional elections. The intertwined drawbacks of party politics, election politics and money politics make it difficult for the legislative and executive authorities to do anything about gun control, only allowing the situation to deteriorate. According to an US online media report dated Dec 11, 2019, the United States has far more guns than any other country and in 2017 the estimated number of civilian-owned firearms in the United States was 120.5 guns per 100 residents, meaning there were more firearms than people. A Nov 20, 2019 report on the website of the Center for American Progress said that a person is killed with a gun in the United States every 15 minutes, citing figures on shooting deaths from 2008 through 2017. In total 39,052 people died from gun related violence in the United States in 2019.
大规模枪击事件接连发生。美国是世界上枪支暴力最严重的国家,频繁发生的大规模枪击事件已成为美国的标志性特征。英国《镜报》网站2019年12月30日报道,根据“枪支暴力档案室”的数据,2019年美国共发生415起大规模枪击事件,平均每天超过一起,达到自2014年统计该数据以来的历史新高。相比之下,2014年美国共发生大规模枪击事件269起,2015年为335起,2016年为382起,2017年为346起,2018年为337起。2019年美国发生的最严重三起枪击案件为:造成22人死亡的得克萨斯州埃尔帕索市沃尔玛枪击案、造成12人死亡的弗吉尼亚海滩市枪击案、造成9人死亡的俄亥俄州代顿市枪击案。《今日美国报》评论称,“美国或已步入大规模枪击时代”。
Mass shootings occurred one after another. The United States is a country with the worst gun violence in the world. Frequent mass shootings have become a defining feature of the United States. Citing figures from the Gun Violence Archive (GVA) , the online edition of The Mirror reported on Dec 30, 2019 that the number of mass killings in the United States hit a record high of 415 in 2019, with more than one happening for every day of the year. That compares with 337 in 2018; 346 in 2017; 382 in 2016; 335 in 2015 and 269 in 2014, the first year the GVA kept records. The three worst US shootings of 2019 took place in El Paso, Texas, Virginia Beach, and Dayton, Ohio, which killed 22, 12 and nine people, respectively. "This seems to be the age of mass shootings," commented USA Today in an online report.
暴力犯罪数量惊人。联邦调查局2019年发布的《2018年美国犯罪报告》显示,2018年美国共发生1206836起暴力犯罪案件。其中,谋杀案为16214起,强奸案为139380起,抢劫案为282061起,重伤案为807410起。美国司法统计局2019年发布的《全国犯罪受害调查报告》显示,2018年美国共有330万名12岁以上居民遭受暴力犯罪侵害,这一数据已连续三年增加。
Violent crimes number is alarming. The "Crime in the United States, 2018" report released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in 2019 showed that in 2018, an estimated 1,206,836 violent crimes occurred nationwide, including 16,214 murders, 139,380 rapes, 282,061 robberies, and 807,410 aggravated assaults. The "Criminal Victimization, 2018" report released by the Bureau of Justice Statistics in 2019 showed that the number of violent-crime victims aged 12 or older in the United States was 3.3 million in 2018, rising for three consecutive years.
民众财产安全堪忧。联邦调查局2019年发布的《2018年美国犯罪报告》显示,2018年美国共发生7196045起财产犯罪案件,平均每10万居民发生2199.5起,财产犯罪受害者共蒙受164亿美元损失。其中,车辆失窃案件748841起,平均每10万居民发生229起,被盗车辆价值超过60亿美元;入室盗窃案件1230149起,造成财产损失约34亿美元,平均每起损失2799美元。
People's property safety is at risk. The "Crime in the United States, 2018" report released by the FBI showed that in 2018 there were an estimated 7,196,045 property crime offenses in the nation, with a rate of property crime estimated at 2,199.5 per 100,000 inhabitants. Property crimes in 2018 resulted in losses estimated at $16.4 billion. Among the property crimes were an estimated 748,841 thefts of motor vehicles and 1,230,149 burglaries. The estimated rate of motor vehicle thefts was 229 per 100,000 inhabitants. Vehicles stolen were worth an estimated total of more than $6 billion. Victims of burglary offenses suffered an estimated $3.4 billion in property losses. The average dollar loss per burglary offense was $2,799.
警方办案不力导致民众失去信心。联邦调查局“全国犯罪案件报告系统”的数据显示,2018年美国共报告了近660万起刑事犯罪,涉及近700万名受害者。皮尤研究中心网站2019年10月17日报道,联邦调查局的数据显示,2018年美国暴力犯罪结案率仅为45.5%,财产犯罪结案率仅为17.6%。很多受害者觉得警方无能,“不会或无法提供帮助”,只得放弃报案。2018年,司法统计局追踪的暴力犯罪案件中,警方接到报案的只有43%,财产犯罪案件中警方接到报案的只有34%。
Poor handling of cases by the police resulted in the loss of public confidence. Incidents reported to the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) of the FBI in 2018 involved nearly 6.6 million criminal offenses and nearly 7 million victims. The website of Pew Research Center reported on Oct 17, 2019 that in the United States in 2018, 45.5 percent of violent crimes and 17.6 percent of property crimes were cleared, citing FBI figures. Many victims did not report a crime out of a feeling that police "would not or could not do anything to help." In 2018, only 43 percent of violent crimes and 34 percent of property crimes tracked by the Bureau of Justice Statistics were reported to police.
公民人格尊严和隐私权遭受系统性侵犯。《达拉斯晨报》网站2019年12月6日报道,美国联邦、州和地方执法部门仅在得克萨斯州就设有8个秘密监视中心,共享情报监控社交媒体和其他在线论坛。早在10年前这些监控中心上线时,美国公民自由联盟就对其侵犯公民隐私发出警告,称其权限模糊、过度保密,使得“建立一个全面监控社会”的威胁变成现实。美国审计署2019年6月4日的报告显示,联邦调查局的人脸识别办公室可以在无合法许可的情况下,任意检索包含超过6.41亿张照片的数据库。乔治城大学公布的一项研究显示,约一半美国成年人——超过1.17亿人,被纳入在执法机构使用的人脸识别系统中,其中非洲裔比其他族裔更容易受到审查。
Citizens' personal dignity and privacy are systematically violated. According to a Dec 6, 2019 report on the website of the Dallas Morning News, Texas is home to eight secretive surveillance centers, which, supported jointly by federal, state and local law enforcement departments, are created for the purpose of better sharing intelligence and better monitoring and analyzing social media and other online forums. A decade ago, when fusion centers were coming online, the American Civil Liberties Union issued a warning that the centers had ambiguous lines of authority and excessive secrecy. The threat, it stated, for "the creation of a total surveillance society," is real. According to an US Government Accountability Office report released on June 4, 2019, the FBI's face recognition office can now search databases with more than 641 million photos. Half of US adults — more than 117 million people — are in a law enforcement face recognition network, according to a Georgetown University study report, which raises serious questions about privacy and civil liberties violations, particularly for African Americans.
监狱管理混乱导致虐囚丑闻频发。美国司法部网站2019年4月3日报道,阿拉巴马州男子监狱无法保护犯人免受囚犯之间的暴力和性侵,导致囚犯受到严重伤害甚至致死。英国《太阳报》网站2019年12月10日报道,14名女性囚犯对美国科尔曼联邦监狱提起诉讼,指控该监狱持续存在对囚犯的系统性虐待。2011年至2015年,美国监狱的性侵犯和性骚扰指控激增了180%。单独囚禁是联合国认定的一种酷刑,会对囚犯的精神、身体和情绪造成严重伤害,甚至可能导致死亡。英国《卫报》网站2019年9月4日报道,2017年的一项调查显示,美国每天都有约6.1万名囚犯被单独囚禁。
Prison management disorders resulted in frequent abuse scandals. A report carried by the website of the Department of Justice on April 3, 2019 said Alabama’s prisons for men fail to protect prisoners from prisoner-on-prisoner violence and sexual abuse and that prisoners experience serious harm, including deadly harm, as a result. The website of the Sun reported on Dec 10, 2019 that 14 women are suing the Coleman Federal Correctional Complex in the United States over systemic abuse they claim to have endured at the prison. Allegations of sexual assault and harassment behind bars in the United States skyrocketed 180 percent from 2011 to 2015. Solitary confinement, which according to the United Nations is a torturous practice, causes severe mental and physical pain or suffering and may even lead to death. A 2017 survey of state prisons estimated around 61,000 prisoners are held in solitary confinement in the United States on any given day, according to a Sept 4, 2019 report on the website of the Guardian.
政治选举沦为金钱游戏。美国有线电视新闻网2019年2月7日报道,2018年美国中期选举的支出高达57亿美元,甚至超过了2008年总统选举花费的53亿美元,成为有史以来最昂贵的国会选举。其中,佛罗里达州联邦参议员竞选耗资最为庞大,共花费2.09亿美元,最终胜选的共和党候选人里克·斯科特在竞选中投入了6300多万美元的个人财产。《时代周刊》网站2019年8月14日报道,在2018年的中期选举中,10个最大的个人捐助者向超级政治行动委员会注资4.36亿美元。富有的特殊利益集团获得前所未有的政治影响力,金钱支配了政治进程,“扭曲了真实民意,侵蚀了民主基石”。
Political elections were reduced to money games. CNN reported on Feb 7, 2019 that spending in the 2018 elections for Congress topped $5.7 billion, shooting past the $5.3 billion spent during the then-recording breaking 2008 presidential election and making the battle for control of the House and Senate the most expensive midterm ever. The Florida US Senate race was the most expensive contest of the midterms, with the spending topping $209 million. The winning candidate Republican Rick Scott poured more than $63 million of his personal fortune into the contest. In 2018, the 10 largest individual donors funneled more than $436 million to Super PACs (political action committees) in the most expensive midterm elections ever, according to a report dated Aug 14, 2019 on the website of the Time magazine. Big money in politics has overwhelmed the political process, granting wealthy special interests more power now than at any time in recent American history, "distorting the voices of everyday citizens and putting the foundation of our democracy at risk."
2020年总统选举筹资竞赛日趋狂热。美国联邦选举委员会网站2019年12月29日公布的数据显示,2020年总统选举的所有参选人已筹集超过10.8亿美元竞选资金,已花费5.31亿美元。《赫芬顿邮报》网站2019年11月30日报道,民主党参选人迈克尔·布隆伯格在宣布竞选的第一周便投入4000多万美元开展广告宣传。政治响应中心2019年11月24日发布的报告显示,所有总统参选人仅在数字广告上的支出就已超过1亿美元。
The race to raise money for the 2020 presidential election is heating up. According to data released on Dec 29, 2019 on the website of the Federal Election Commission, candidates have raised more than $1.08 billion for the 2020 presidential election and spent $531 million. In his first week as a Democratic US presidential candidate, Michael Bloomberg launched a $40-plus million advertising campaign, according to a HuffPost report dated Nov 30, 2019. Presidential candidates have spent more than $100 million on digital ads, noted a report released by the Center for Responsive Politics on Nov 24, 2019.
自我标榜的“新闻自由”有名无实。《华盛顿邮报》网站2019年4月18日报道,美国在年度新闻自由指数中的排名连续三年下降。“美国新闻自由追踪系统”网站2019年12月29日公布的数据显示,2019年美国共有38名记者遭到袭击,发生记者被拒绝参加公开政府活动的事件28起,9名记者被捕或面临刑事指控。自2017年以来,至少有54名记者被传唤或被没收采访记录,36名记者在报道抗议活动时被捕。英国《卫报》网站2019年12月12日报道指出,本届美国政府“对新闻自由进行了有史以来最持久的攻击”。
America's self-touted "freedom of the press" is in name only. For the third time in three years, the United States’ standing in an annual index of press freedom declined, said a report released on the website of the Washington Post on April, 18, 2019. Data released by the website of the US Press Freedom Tracker on Dec 29, 2019 showed that in 2019 in the United States there were 38 journalists who were attacked, 28 incidents in which journalists were denied access to government events, nine journalists who were arrested or faced with criminal charges. Since 2017, at least 54 journalists have been subpoenaed or had their records seized and 36 journalists have been arrested while covering protests in the United States. The current US Administration is "mounting the most direct attack on press freedom in American history," according to a report dated Dec 12, 2019 on the website of the Guardian.
示威民众因抗议政府政策而遭逮捕。美国有线电视新闻网2019年8月11日报道,自从美国政府2018年实施“零容忍”移民政策后,呼吁关闭移民及海关执法局的呼声此起彼伏,约100名抗议者在纽约市被逮捕。《休斯顿纪事报》网站2019年9月12日报道,美国绿色和平组织的抗议者当日在休斯敦举行示威活动,至少15名抗议者被捕。《迈阿密先驱报》网站2019年11月29日报道,迈阿密近40位气候变化倡议者当日举行抗议活动,要求政府采取措施应对气候变化,1人被捕。
Demonstrators were arrested for protesting against government policies. Calls for the closure of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have intensified since the US Government in 2018 implemented its "zero tolerance" policy on immigration. About 100 protesters demanding an end to the ICE were arrested in New York City, according to a CNN report on Aug 11, 2019. At least 15 protesters were arrested in a demonstration organized by Greenpeace USA on Sept 12, 2019, said a report on the website of Houston Chronicle. Nearly 40 protesters attended a planned protest in Miami on Nov 29, 2019 for government action on climate change and one protester was arrested, according to a report on the website of Miami Herald.
二、经济和社会权利缺乏基本保障
II. Absence of Basic Guarantee of Social and Economic Rights
美国整体富强的面纱背后,遮掩的却是贫富严重分化的冷酷现实。国民收入分配差距持续扩大,医疗教育费用不断攀升,社会保障覆盖面却在萎缩,底层民众生活苦不堪言。
Behind the overall prosperity of the United States is the cruel reality of the serious polarization between the rich and the poor in the country. The income distribution gap continues to widen, the medical and education cost continues to rise, the coverage of social security is shrinking and the lives of the people at the bottom are miserable.
贫富差距创50年来新高。联合国极端贫困与人权问题特别报告员菲利普·奥尔斯顿在2018年5月发表的访美报告中指出,美国已经沦为贫富分化最严重的西方国家。《华盛顿时报》网站2019年9月27日报道,美国人口普查局的统计数据显示,过去50年来,美国的基尼系数一直在稳步上升。2018年基尼系数攀升至0.485,贫富差距达到50年来最高水平。《今日美国报》网站2019年5月26日报道,摩根大通公司发布的报告显示,美国最富有的10%家庭占有近75%的家庭净资产。“财富越来越多地集中在少数人手中,已经超出了许多美国人认为合理或道德上可以接受的范围”。美国贫富持续分化的基本趋势对人权的享有和实现产生了严重的负面影响。《纽约时报》网站2019年9月10日报道,贫富差距不仅扩大了美国人的收入和财富差距,还导致了富人寿命更长而穷人寿命更短。美国的贫富分化是一个稳定的长期趋势,造成这种趋势的主要原因是结构性的,这是由美国的政治制度和美国政府所代表的资本利益所决定的。美国政府不仅缺乏消除这些结构性原因的政治意愿,反而不断推出使之强化的政策措施。正如奥尔斯顿特别报告员所指出的,美国“极端贫困的持续存在是当权者做出的政治选择”。
The gap between rich and poor hit a 50-year high. In May 2018, Philip G. Alston, the United Nation's special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, published a report saying the United States had the highest rate of income inequality among Western countries. The Washington Times reported on its website on Sept 27, 2019 that the Gini Index of the United States has been rising steadily over the past five decades, citing figures from the US Census Bureau. The Gini Index grew to 0.485 in 2018, the highest level in 50 years. Citing a report from the New York-based financial firm JP Morgan Chase, the USA Today website reported on May 26, 2019 that the wealthiest 10 percent of US households control nearly 75 percent of household net worth. “The increasing consolidation of wealth in the hands of a few has gone beyond what many Americans deem to be justified or morally acceptable.” The basic trend of widening income gap in the United States is casting negative influences on the enjoyment and realization of human rights. The New York Times website reported on Sept 10, 2019 that the expanding gap between rich and poor is not only widening the gulf in incomes and wealth in America. It is helping the rich lead longer lives, while cutting short the lives of those who are struggling. The polarization between the rich and the poor in the United States is a stable long-term trend. The main reason for this trend is structural, which is determined by the political system of the United States and the capital interests represented by the US government. The US government not only lacks the political will to eliminate these structural causes, but also continuously introduces policies and measures to strengthen them. In the United States, “the persistence of extreme poverty is a political choice made by those in power,” said Alston, the special rapporteur.
收入分配不平等日益严重。《今日美国报》网站2019年4月17日和5月26日报道,美国的收入不平等问题不断恶化,中产阶级工资停滞不前和高管薪酬飙升是主要原因之一。一些大企业和知名公司首席执行官不到一个小时的收入,相当于普通员工一整年的收入。MyLogIQ机构对标准普尔500指数公司的薪酬分析报告显示,有13家公司首席执行官的工资至少是普通员工薪酬中位数的1000倍,最高的达到3566倍。《福布斯》网站2019年5月29日报道,美联储的报告显示,1989年至2018年,最富有10%的家庭占有家庭财富总额的比例从60%上升至70%,最富有1%的家庭占有家庭财富总额的比例从23%上升至32%,而最底层50%的家庭财富净增长基本为零,在家庭财富总额中所占比例从4%降至1%,正在被日益加剧的不平等压垮。
Inequality in income distribution is growing. USA Today reported on its website on April 17 and May 26, 2019 that income inequality is a growing problem in the United States, which could be contributed to factors including the stagnant middle-class wages and skyrocketing executive compensation. In some of the largest and most recognizable global companies, chief executives earn in less than an hour as much as their typical employee earns in an entire year. MyLogIQ, a data aggregator of public companies, released a report comparing total CEO compensation to median employee compensation for companies on the S&P 500 index, identifying 13 companies where the CEO makes at least 1,000 times the salary of their typical employee, while the biggest contrast was 3,566 times. Citing a Federal Reserve report, the Forbes website reported on May 29, 2019 that in 2018, the richest 10 percent held 70 percent of total household wealth, up from 60 percent in 1989. The share funneled to the top 1 percent jumped to 32 percent in 2018 from 23 percent in 1989. The bottom 50 percent saw essentially zero net gains in wealth over those 30 years, driving their already meager share of total wealth down to just 1 percent from 4 percent, who are literally getting crushed by the weight of rising inequalities.
底层民众生活窘困。在经济已经高度发达的美国,很多公民却依然面临饥饿威胁。美国律师协会网站2019年12月16日的文章指出,美国是目前唯一有数百万人处于饥饿状态的发达国家,人口普查局2018年的统计数据显示美国有3970万贫困人口,其中包含1280万名儿童。美国进步中心网站2019年2月13日报道,超过40%的美国人难以负担住房、食品和医疗等基本生活支出,而国会10年来一直拒绝提高7.25美元的联邦最低时薪,进一步加剧了贫困问题。经济政策研究所2019年8月27日发布的数据显示,2019年联邦最低工资的实际价值因通货膨胀比2009年下降了17%,比1968年下降了31%。《洛杉矶时报》网站2019年5月7日报道,美国政府试图使用“虚假通胀率”来“剔除”数百万贫困人口,“本届政府对于有多少贫困人口及如何帮助他们毫不在意,只是盘算着如何玩一场数字游戏”。
People at the bottom are living in distress. In the United States, where the economy is already highly developed, many still face the threat of hunger. The United States remains the only developed country where millions go hungry, said an article published on Dec 16, 2019 on the website of the American Bar Association. According to the US Census Bureau, there are 39.7 million people living in poverty in the United States, including 12.8 million children in 2018. American Progress website reported on Feb 13, 2019 that more than 4 in 10 Americans are struggling to afford basics such as housing, food, and health care. The US Congress has refused to raise the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour for a decade, contributing to the worsening of poverty. The Economic Policy Institute said on Aug 27, 2019 that the real value (inflation-adjusted) of the federal minimum wage in 2019 has dropped 17 percent since 2009 and 31 percent since 1968. The Los Angeles Times reported on its website on May 7, 2019 that the US government proposed to use a sham inflation rate to throw millions off poverty rolls. "This administration isn’t interested in knowing how many Americans are living in poverty, or how to help them. In the games it wants to play with numbers."
无家可归者处境悲惨。《今日美国报》网站2019年10月7日报道,住房和城市发展部的数据显示,每晚至少有50万美国人无家可归。《洛杉矶时报》网站2019年7月2日报道,受经济衰退影响,近800万美国人失去了房屋。美联储的数据显示,美国中产阶级的住房拥有率从2004年的70%下降至2016年的60%。洛杉矶无家可归者服务管理局2019年6月4日公布数据显示,洛杉矶县有58936人无家可归,比2018年增加12%。美国有线电视新闻网2019年6月18日报道,洛杉矶邻近地区无家可归者数量的增加同样惊人。与2018年相比,奥兰治县的无家可归者增加了43%,文图拉县增加了28%,克恩县增加了50%。无家可归者并没有得到同情和帮助。英国广播公司网站2019年7月18日报道,佛罗里达州西棕榈滩的政府通过整晚无休止地循环播放音乐,将无家可归者驱离城市滨水区域。“无家可归与贫穷问题”国家法律中心执行主任玛丽亚·福斯卡尼斯指出:“用喧闹的音乐驱赶无家可归者是不人道的,令人震惊。”
The homeless are in a miserable situation. USA Today reported on its website on Oct 7, 2019 that on a single night in the previous year, more than half a million Americans lacked permanent shelter, according to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. Los Angeles Times reported online on July 2, 2019 that nearly 8 million Americans lost homes in the recession and its aftermath. For America’s middle class, the homeownership rate fell to about 60 percent in 2016 from roughly 70 percent in 2004, according to separate Federal Reserve data. The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority on June 4, 2019 released the results of the 2019 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count, which showed 58,936 people in Los Angeles County experiencing homelessness, representing a 12 percent rise from the previous year. CNN reported on June 18, 2019 that the rise in homelessness in neighboring counties was equally bracing. Homelessness was up 43 percent in Orange County over the previous year, 28 percent in Ventura County and 50 percent in Kern County. The homeless did not receive sympathy or help. The BBC website reported on July 18, 2019 that government officials in West Palm Beach, Florida are trying to drive the homeless away from the city's waterfront space by playing on an endless loop of music through the night. Maria Foscarinis, executive director of the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, said, "Driving them out by blaring music is just inhumane and really shocking."
民众医疗负担过重。美国与同等发展水平国家之间的健康差距继续拉大,原因之一是民众医疗负担过重。哥伦比亚广播公司网站2019年7月1日报道,美国处方药价格持续飙升,2019年前6个月有超过3400种药物价格上涨,涨价药物种类比一年前增加了17%,药物平均价格上涨了10.5%。美国广播公司网站2019年11月21日报道,联邦基金会的报告显示,2008年至2018年,美国中产阶级的医疗费用支出每年增长近6%,占家庭收入的比例从7.8%攀升至11.5%。美国广播公司网站2019年4月3日报道,美国民众在过去12个月因支付医疗费用借债高达880亿美元。根据盖洛普公司的调查,美国有1500万人由于药物费用过高而不得不推迟购买处方药,有6500万人由于医疗费用过高而在生病时放弃治疗。
The public medical burden is overwhelming. The health gap between the United States and countries with the same level of development continues to widen, one reason is that the public medical burden is too heavy. CBS website said on July 1, 2019 that price hikes on prescription drugs are surging, with more than 3,400 drugs having boosted their prices in the first six months of 2019, an increase of 17 percent in the number of drug hikes from a year earlier, while the average price hike is 10.5 percent. On Nov 21, 2019, the American Broadcasting Company website cited a new report by the Commonwealth Fund to report that middle-class employees' premium and deductible contributions rose nearly 6 percent per year between 2008 and 2018, during which the share of such spending in household income also climbed to 11.5 percent from 7.8 percent. American Broadcasting Company reported on April 3, 2019 that Americans borrowed $88 billion to pay for health care in the past 12 months. According to a new national survey by Gallup and West Health, 15 million Americans deferred purchasing prescription drugs due to the costs of the medications. Beyond that, there were 65 million adults who chose not to seek treatment for a medical issue because of the cost, according to the survey.
没有医疗保险的人数大幅上升。美国是少数没有实行全民医疗保险的发达国家之一,有相当数量的居民没有医疗保险,因而无法在患病时得到应有的医疗保障。《洛杉矶时报》网站2019年1月23日报道,盖洛普公司的调查显示,没有医疗保险的美国成年人比例由2016年的10.9%大幅攀升至2018年的13.7%,这意味着约700万人失去了医疗保险。35岁以下的成年人中没有医疗保险的比例在过去两年内上升近5个百分点,超过了21%。乔治城大学家庭与儿童研究中心的研究显示,2018年,没有医疗保险的儿童数量十多年来首次增加。
The number of people without health insurance soars. The United States is one of the few developed countries that do not have universal health insurance, and a significant number of residents do not have health insurance, so they cannot get the health care they deserve when they fall ill. The website of the Los Angeles times on Jan 23, 2019 reported that at the end of 2018, 13.7 percent of US adults were uninsured, up from 10.9 percent at the end of 2016, according to a survey by Gallup. The new report also indicates that some 7 million US adults have likely lost or dropped coverage since 2016. More than 21 percent of adults under 35 now lack health insurance, according to the Gallup survey, up nearly 5 percentage points in just the last two years. A study by the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families found the number of children in the United States without health insurance increased in 2018 for the first time in more than a decade.
毒品滥用日益严重。美国进步中心网站2019年1月10日报道,1999年至2016年,美国有63万人死于吸毒过量;而2017年更是高达72000人,这意味着平均每天有近200人死于吸毒过量。英国《卫报》网站2019年12月18日报道称,毒品对美国校园的侵蚀越来越严重,多达20%的高中生吸食大麻。《芝加哥论坛报》网站2019年5月29日报道,据国家药物滥用研究所统计,每16名高中生中就有一人每天吸食大麻。
Drug abuse is getting worse. American Progress reported online on Jan 10, 2019 that 630,000 people died of drug overdoses across the country from 1999 through 2016. In 2017, a staggering 72,000 Americans died of drug overdoses — nearly 200 people every day. The Guardian website reported on Dec 18, 2019 that the popularity of drug has been booming in US campuses, as about one out of five high school students in the United States said they vaped marijuana in the previous year. On May 29, 2019, the Chicago Tribune reported on its website that according to the National Institute of Drug Abuse, one in 16 high school seniors report daily use of marijuana.
政府削减财政资助导致大学生经济压力剧增。“美国公共媒体”网站2019年2月25日报道,过去10年各州政府共削减了90亿美元的大学经费资助,导致大学学费大幅上涨,学生还贷压力剧增。《福布斯》网站2019年2月25日报道,2019年学生贷款债务总额超过1.5万亿美元,达到有史以来最高水平,学生贷款债务成为仅次于抵押贷款的第二大消费者债务。《今日美国报》网站2019年6月10日报道,大学生面临无家可归危机。调查显示,就读两年制大学的受访者中有18%的人无家可归,有60%的人经历过住房无保障的窘境;就读四年制大学的受访者中有14%的人无家可归,有48%的人经历过住房无保障的窘境。2018年,加利福尼亚州社区大学生中有近39.9万人经历过一段无家可归的时期,其中有8万人睡在车里。
Shrinking government financial aid leads to a surge in financial pressure on college students. APM (American Public Media) website reported on Feb 25, 2019 that states have cut their investment in higher education by $9 billion in the last decade, which had led to surging tuitions and burden of paying student loans. The Forbes reported on its website on Feb 25, 2019 that borrowers collectively owed more than $1.5 trillion in student loan debt in the US in 2019, hitting a record high. Student loan debt was the second highest consumer debt category — behind only mortgage debt. The website of USA Today reported on June 10, 2019 that many college students were having difficulties finding a place to sleep. The report cited a survey to say that homelessness affected 18 percent of respondents attending two-year colleges, and 14 percent of those attending four-year institutions. The number who said they had experienced housing insecurity was 48 percent for those enrolled in four-year institutions. Still, of the nearly 399,000 community college students in California who experienced some period of homelessness in the previous year, 80,000 of them slept in their cars.
三、少数族裔饱受欺凌排斥
III. Ethnic Minorities Suffer from Bullying and Exclusion
种族歧视始终伴随着美国发展历史,肤色在决定美国人的命运方面具有举足轻重的作用。白人至上的政治架构和意识形态,使得少数种族在美国的政治、经济、文化、社会生活等各个领域遭受全方位的歧视。
Racial discrimination has always accompanied the development of the United States in history, and skin color plays an important role in determining the fate of Americans. The political structure and ideology of white supremacy have caused ethnic minorities to suffer all-round discrimination in various fields such as politics, economy, culture and social life in the United States.
白人至上主义甚嚣尘上。美国在骨子里依然是一个白人盎格鲁-撒克逊新教徒的国家,所有不符合这些特性的种族、族群和宗教文化群体都不可避免地遭受到或多或少的歧视。2016年以来,美国的白人至上主义呈现回潮之势,导致种族对立与仇恨情绪弥漫。英国《卫报》网站2019年11月12日报道,美国南方贫困问题法律中心的调查报告显示,白宫高级顾问斯蒂芬·米勒利用来自白人至上主义者、伊斯兰教仇视者和极端右翼网站的素材,塑造了极端右翼网站布赖特巴特新闻网2016年的总统选举报道。米勒还对20世纪初美国以种族为基础的限制性移民政策大加赞扬。佛罗里达州州长罗恩·德桑蒂斯在竞选中攻击非洲裔竞选对手,将非洲裔与猴子相提并论,暗指其进化不够。联合国非洲人后裔问题专家工作组2019年8月2日发布的报告指出,美国政治人物使用了强调非洲人后裔负面定型观念的言辞。炮制非洲人后裔的种族刻板印象和负面形象是为了证明奴役非洲人的合理性,这持续对非洲人后裔造成伤害并侵犯其人权。
White supremacy is on the rise. In essence, the United States is still a country of white Anglo-Saxon Protestants. All other races, ethnic groups, and religious and cultural communities endure various levels of discrimination. Since 2016, white supremacy in the United States has shown a resurgence trend, leading to racial opposition and hatred. The Guardian website reported on Nov 12, 2019 that senior White House adviser Stephen Miller shaped the 2016 election coverage of the hard right-wing website Breitbart with material drawn from prominent white nationalists, Islamophobes, and far-right websites, according to a new investigative report by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). Miller also praised America's early 20th-century race-based, restrictionist immigration policies. While running for election, the governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis referred to old racist tropes linking people of African descent to monkeys and implying lesser evolutionary achievement. A report of the UN Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent issued on Aug 2, 2019 said that politicians from the United States have used language that has reinforced the negative stereotyping of people of African descent. The legacy of racial stereotypes and negative characterizations of people of African descent, which were created to justify the enslavement of Africans, and continue to harm people of African descent and violate their human rights.
- 延伸阅读:小词详解 | essence
《今日美国报》网站2019年6月27日报道,该学年更多的白人至上主义宣传出现在美国大学校园,种族主义的宣传材料连续三年增加。仅在春季学期,仇恨监视组织就在33个州和哥伦比亚特区的122个校园中记录了161起极端主义宣传事件。这些宣传或者攻击犹太人、非洲裔、穆斯林和非白人移民等少数群体,或者鼓吹白人至上主义内容。反诽谤联盟表示,大学校园外的白人至上主义宣传事件也在激增,2019年前5个月就发生了672起,而2018年全年才发生了868起。《赫芬顿邮报》网站2019年4月5日报道,联邦调查局局长克里斯托弗·雷在国会的听证会上说,白人至上主义正对美国安全形成持续、广泛的严重威胁。后来他还指出,自2018年10月以来,美国国内的恐怖活动大多与白人至上主义暴力有关。《纽约时报》网站2019年8月7日报道,从匹兹堡到克赖斯特彻奇,再到埃尔帕索,制造大规模枪击事件的白人都表达了对“白人种族灭绝”的偏执恐惧。埃尔帕索枪击案中杀害22人的白人男子帕特里克·克鲁修斯,在其长达4页的宣言中直接引用和表述了“白人将被有色人种取代”的观点。美利坚大学反种族主义研究和政策中心主任伊布拉姆·肯迪说:“美国一直处在白人至上恐怖主义的危机之中。”
USA Today reported on its website on June 27, 2019 that more white supremacist propaganda appeared on US college campuses that academic year, marking a three-year rise in racist materials. In the spring semester alone, a hate watchdog group recorded 161 cases of extremist propaganda on 122 campuses across 33 states and the District of Columbia. Some of the propaganda featured attacks on minority groups such as Jews, people of African descent, Muslims and non-white immigrants, while others with white supremacist content. According to the Anti-Defamation League, white supremacist propaganda posters and stickers outside of college campuses also spiked, with 672 instances in the first five months of 2019, compared to 868 incidents over the entire year in 2018. According to an online report of the Huffington Post on April 5, 2019, FBI Director Christopher Wray testified before Congress that white supremacy is a persistent and pervasive threat to US security. Later, he also told Congress that the majority of domestic terror related arrests since the previous October had been linked to white supremacist violence. The New York Times reported online on Aug 7, 2019 that from Pittsburgh to Christchurch, and now El Paso, white men accused of carrying out deadly mass shootings have cited the same paranoid fear: the extinction of the white race. The idea that “white people will be replaced by people of color,” was cited directly in the four-page screed written by the man arrested in the killing of 22 people in El Paso. “The United States has always been in the midst of a white nationalist terrorist crisis,” said Ibram Kendi, director of the Antiracist Research and Policy Center at American University.
执法领域的种族歧视司空见惯。联合国当代形式种族主义、种族歧视、仇外心理和相关不容忍行为问题特别报告员指出,美国执法当局杀害和残暴虐待非洲裔的数量依然惊人,而且很少受到追究。非洲裔成年人被监禁的概率是白人成年人的5.9倍,这种大规模的监禁是奴隶制及种族隔离所产生的余孽。非洲裔更有可能被警察认定为是罪犯,并遭受残酷的对待。美国有线电视新闻网2019年3月1日报道,在一起骇人听闻的带有种族歧视性质的警察暴力执法中,6名警察对20岁的非洲裔说唱歌手威利·麦科伊的“头部、耳朵、颈部、胸部、手臂、肩膀、双手和背部”连开25枪,致其死亡。麦科伊的姐姐西蒙妮·理查德说,“警察处决了我的弟弟,他们甚至没有给他举起双手的机会。”英国《卫报》网站2019年8月19日报道,43岁的非洲裔美国男子唐纳德·尼利是一名患有精神疾病的无家可归者,因非法入侵被骑警逮捕。两名白人警察将其双手铐在背后,骑着马用绳子牵着他穿过得克萨斯州加尔维斯顿的街道,这一极具历史联想色彩的场景引发了全国范围内的广泛抗议。美国有线电视新闻网2019年12月17日报道,密西西比州地方检察官道格·埃文斯自1992年上任以来,采取各种手段不断罢免非洲裔陪审员。非洲裔陪审员被罢免的可能性是白人陪审员的4.4倍。在被告是非洲裔的案件中,非洲裔陪审员被罢免的概率尤为显著。
Racial discrimination is common in law enforcement. UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance pointed out that people of African descent in the United States are still killed and brutalized at alarming rates by law enforcement authorities and vigilantes, who have little to no accountability. African American adults are 5.9 times more likely to be incarcerated than white adults. Such racial disparities are a vestige of slavery and racial segregation. People of African descent are more likely to be seen as criminals by police officers and treated with cruel measures. CNN reported on March 1, 2019 that in an appalling act of police violence with racial discrimination six police officers shot Willie McCoy, a 20-year-old rapper, about 25 times in the head, ear, neck, chest, arms, shoulders, hands, and back. McCoy's sister, Simone Richard, said the police executed her brother and didn't give him a chance to put his hands up. According to a report on the website of the Guardian on Aug 19, 2019, Donald Neely, 43, is a homeless and mentally ill African American. He was arrested by two rangers on a charge of criminal trespassing. The officers attached Neely to a rope, his hands handcuffed behind his back, while they rode on horseback leading Neely through the streets of Galveston, Texas. This scene with great historical association triggered widespread outcry across the country. CNN reported on Dec 17, 2019 that Mississippi prosecutor Doug Evans excluded many African American jurors from trials since he took office in 1992. African American jurors were 4.4 times more likely to be struck down than white jurors. And in cases where the defendant was an African American, Evans' strike rate against jurors of African descent was "even more pronounced."
职场与民生领域种族不平等未见改善。美国进步中心网站2019年8月7日和12月5日报道指出,与白人相比,非洲裔等少数族裔在就业中面临系统性障碍,导致更高的失业率、更少的就业机会、更低的工资、更少的福利和更大的就业不稳定性。奴隶制和种族隔离制度把有色人种工人集中在低薪职业上。职业隔离和有色人种工人持续贬值是政府有意制定政策的直接结果。虽然非洲裔、亚裔、拉美裔只占美国劳动力总数的36%,但58%的农业工人、70%的女佣和清洁工以及74%的行李搬运工、行李员和门房等工作却由他们承担。这些工作职位的工资中位数远低于美国各行业平均工资的中位数。
Racial inequality in the workplace and people's livelihood have not improved. The Center for American Progress reported on Aug 7 and Dec 5, 2019 on its website that compared with their white counterparts, African American workers face systematic obstacles to getting jobs. They face higher unemployment rates, fewer job opportunities, lower pay, poorer benefits and greater job instability. Slavery and racial segregation concentrated workers of color in undervalued occupations. Occupational segregation and the persistent devaluation of workers of color are a direct result of intentional government policy. While African American, Asian, and Hispanic or Latino people comprise 36 percent of the overall US workforce, they constitute 58 percent of miscellaneous agricultural workers; 70 percent of maids and housekeeping cleaners; and 74 percent of baggage porters, bellhops and concierges. The median wages for these jobs are far below the median wages for all industries in the United States.
就业歧视的存在使得经济福利方面的不平等持续固化,对于非洲裔而言尤为明显。在过去的40年里,非洲裔工人的失业率一直是白人的两倍。近10年来美国劳动力市场的扩张,并没有消除劳动力市场中系统性的种族差异。在2018年全年全职工作的人群中,白人男性每挣1美元,非洲裔男性挣70.2美分,白人女性挣78.6美分,非洲裔女性挣61.9美分。《洛杉矶时报》网站2019年7月2日报道,美联储发布的数据显示,财富的种族差距持续加剧,白人家庭的平均财富几乎是非洲裔家庭的10倍。《今日美国报》网站2019年11月8日报道,在威斯康星州密尔沃基-沃基肖-西艾利斯地区,非洲裔的失业率为13.9%,而白人只有3.9%;非洲裔的收入中位数仅为白人的43.8%;非洲裔的住房拥有率仅为27.8%,而白人为68.2%。
Employment discrimination perpetuates inequality in economic well-being, especially for people of African descent. Over the past 40 years, workers of African descent have consistently endured an unemployment rate approximately twice that of their white counterparts. The labor market expansion in the past 10 years in the United States has not eliminated the systematic racial differences. Among those who worked full time all year in 2018, African American men earned 70.2 cents for every dollar earned by white men, and white women earned 78.6 cents. African American women earned 61.9 cents for every dollar that white men earned. Citing figures from the Federal Reserve, Los Angeles Times reported on July 2, 2019 that racial disparities in wealth have worsened, as the typical wealth for a white household is nearly 10 times that for African Americans. According to a report on the website of USA Today on Nov 8, 2019, in Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis area of Wisconsin, the unemployment rate for African Americans is 13.9 percent, while that for the white people is only 3.9 percent. The median income for the households of African descent is just 43.8 percent of the figure for the white households. Just 27.8 percent of African American heads of household own their homes, less than half the 68.2-percent white homeownership rate.
工作场所和日常生活中的种族歧视随处可见。美国有线电视新闻网2019年1月18日报道,俄亥俄州民权委员会调查后确认,通用汽车公司纵容种族歧视的工作环境。非洲裔员工遭受种族主义言论攻击或威胁,“黑鬼”的称呼随处可闻,非洲裔雇员被称为“猴子”,并被警告“滚回非洲去”,白人员工在工作服里面穿着带有纳粹标志的衬衫,有工作场所的厕所被宣称“仅供白人使用”。一名非洲裔管理人员被白人雇员威胁称:“放在过去,我早就把你给活埋了!”当有色人种雇员向高层管理人员报告遭受种族歧视时,却被告知自行处理。《今日美国报》网站2019年11月8日报道,非洲裔员工抱怨脸书公司的种族主义和种族歧视日益严重。12名现任和前任非洲裔员工列出了一长串种族主义的“微侵犯”清单,例如两名白人雇员吃完早餐后要求非洲裔项目经理清理食物残渣,有色人种员工处于一种不友好、不正常的工作环境之中。非洲裔员工表示,“种族主义、歧视、偏见和侵犯并非总是源自重大时刻,恰恰是这些微小的事件日积月累,逐渐形成了一种文化。在这种文化中,我们只是被视为配额存在,从未被倾听、被认可、被接受。”美国有线电视新闻网2019年8月28日报道,俄克拉荷马州的一位电视节目主持人亚莉克斯·豪斯顿将她的非洲裔搭档比作大猩猩,引发种族主义抨击。
Racism is pervasive in the workplace and in everyday life. According to a CNN report on Jan 18, 2019, after an investigation, the Ohio Civil Rights Commission confirmed that General Motors did allow a racially hostile environment. The African American employees endured racist comments or threats. The N-word was regular at the workplace where African American employees were called "monkey," or told to "go back to Africa." White workers wore shirts with Nazi symbols underneath their coveralls. Bathrooms in the workplace were declared for "whites only." A white employee threatened his African American supervisor: "Back in the day, you would have been buried with a shovel." When African American employees reported the racial discrimination to upper management, they were told to deal with it themselves. USA Today reported on its website on Nov 8, 2019 that African American employees complained of growing racism and discrimination inside the Facebook company. Twelve current and former African American employees offered up a long list of micro aggressions, including two white employees asking an African American program manager to clean up after they finished eating breakfast. People of color were treated as unfriendly and abnormal there. “Racism, discrimination, bias, and aggression do not come from the big moments. It’s in the small actions that mount up over time and build into a culture where we are only meant to be seen as quotas, but never heard, never acknowledged, never recognized, and never accepted,” said some African American employees. CNN reported on its website on Aug 28, 2019 that TV anchor Alex Housden in Oklahoma likened her African American cohost to a gorilla, drawing criticism of racism attacks.
美国进步中心网站2019年8月7日报道指出,有色人种继续忍受着住房市场上猖獗的歧视:17%的印第安人、25%的亚裔、31%的拉美裔、45%的非洲裔在租房或买房时受到歧视。相比之下,只有5%的美国白人表示在住房方面受到歧视。种族偏见不仅会影响住房的获得,还会影响财产价值。一项研究发现,由于种族偏见,非洲裔社区的房屋平均被低估了4.8万美元,累计损失高达1560亿美元。几个世纪以来,美国住房系统中的结构性种族主义导致了财富和财务状况方面严重而持久的种族差异,尤其是非洲裔和白人家庭之间的差异。这些差异是如此根深蒂固,如果目前的趋势继续下去,非洲裔家庭积累的财富可能需要200多年才能达到白人家庭现在的水平。
According to a report on the website of the Center for American Progress on Aug 7, 2019, people of color continue to endure rampant discrimination in the housing market: 17 percent of Native Americans, 25 percent of Asian Americans, 31 percent of Latinos, and 45 percent of African Americans report experiencing discrimination when trying to rent or buy housing. By contrast, just 5 percent of white Americans report experiencing housing discrimination. Racial bias not only undermines access to housing but can also affect property values. One study found that homes in African American neighborhoods were undervalued by an average of $48,000 due to racial bias, resulting in $156 billion in cumulative losses nationwide. For centuries, structural racism in the US housing system has contributed to stark and persistent racial disparities in wealth and financial well-being, especially between African American and white households. These differences are so entrenched that if current trends continue, it could take more than 200 years for the average family of African descent to accumulate the same amount of wealth as its white counterparts.
非白人儿童遭受严重教育歧视。美国有线电视新闻网2019年2月27日报道,非白人为主的学区公立学校每年获得的资金比白人为主的学区少230亿美元。2016年,白人为主的学区生均经费为13908美元,而在主要为有色人种服务的学区,生均经费只有11682美元。与此同时,白人为主的学区平均学生人数只有1500人,而非白人为主的学区平均学生人数超过10000人,相差6倍之巨。根据美国教育部的数据,非洲裔学生被停学或开除的可能性是白人学生的三倍。最能表明种族偏见的是,在84个南部学区中,被停学的学生100%是非洲裔。甚至在幼儿园里,非洲裔儿童也比其他种族的儿童更容易被停学。非洲裔儿童仅占学龄前儿童的18%,却占被幼儿园停学儿童的近一半。《心理科学》杂志发表的一项研究表明,白人从5岁开始就将非洲裔男孩与“暴力”“危险”“敌意”和“攻击性”等联系在一起。非洲裔儿童面临的种族偏见和高停学率可能导致他们学业落后或辍学,并增加了他们刑事犯罪的可能性,学校惩罚是非洲裔男孩自杀率上升的原因之一。
Non-white children suffer from serious discrimination in education. CNN reported on Feb 27, 2019 that predominantly white school districts in the United States get $23 billion a year more than districts that educate mostly non-white children. The average white school district got $13,908 for every student in 2016, compared to 11,682 dollars per student in districts that mostly serve people of color. In the meantime, white districts enroll just over 1,500 students, while non-white districts serve over 10,000 students, about six times of the former. African American students are three times more likely to be suspended or expelled than their white peers, according to the US Department of Education. The finding most indicative of racial bias is that in 84 Southern school districts, 100 percent of students suspended were of African descent. Even African American preschool students are more likely to be suspended than students of other races. In fact, a study published in Psychological Science suggests that whites begin to perceive African American boys as threatening at just 5 years old, associating them with adjectives such as “violent,” “dangerous,” “hostile” and “aggressive.” The negative racial biases African American children face, and the correlated high suspension rates can result in African American children falling behind academically, and eventually dropping out of school. It also increases the chances that they will have contact with the criminal justice system. And punitive discipline may be one of the reasons suicides among African American boys are rising.
仇恨犯罪攀至高位。联邦调查局2019年11月12日发布的报告显示,在2018年执法部门报告的7036起单一偏见引发的仇恨犯罪案件中,57.5%涉及种族族裔身份;而在涉及种族族裔身份的仇恨犯罪案件中,高达46.9%的针对非洲裔。在种族仇恨犯罪案件的5155名受害者中,非洲裔高达47.1%。英国《卫报》网站2019年8月4日报道,8月3日得克萨斯州边境城市埃尔帕索市一家沃尔玛超市发生大规模枪击案。21岁的白人男子帕特里克·克鲁修斯专程驱车从650多英里之外赶到埃尔帕索市,对超市购物人群进行无差别射击,共屠杀22人,就因为这座城市的主要居民是拉美裔。美国有线电视新闻网2019年12月20日报道,爱荷华州的一名14岁女孩正走在去往印第安山初中的人行道上,突然遭到一名42岁女子开车碾压。肇事者声称这么做的原因是受害女孩“是墨西哥人”。《纽约邮报》网站2019年11月7日报道,42岁的拉美裔男子马哈茂德·维拉拉斯与白人男子布莱克威尔发生争吵。白人男子质问他“你为什么入侵我的国家?”并从包中取出一瓶酸性液体泼向维拉拉斯脸上。
Hate crime climbs to high level. A report released on Nov 12, 2019 by the FBI showed that law enforcement agencies submitted incident reports in 2018 involving 7,036 single-bias incidents, 57.5 percent of which stemmed from a race/ethnicity/ancestry bias. A total of 46.9 percent of single-bias hate crime offenses were motivated by anti-Black or African American bias, while among 5,155 victims of race/ethnicity/ancestry motivated hate crime, 47.1 percent were victims of crimes motivated by offenders’ anti-Black or African American bias. The Guardian on Aug 4, 2019 on its website reported a mass shooting happening on Aug 3 at a Walmart superstore in the Texas border city El Paso. The shooter is 21-year-old Patrick Crusius, who drove 650 miles to the border city and rampaged into the superstore, opening fire and killing 22. He said this attack was a response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas. According to a CNN report on Dec 20, 2019, a 14-year-old girl was walking to Indian Hills Junior High when a vehicle drove onto the sidewalk and ran over her. The attempted murder was committed by a 42-year-old Iowa woman who said she did so because the teenager "was a Mexican." The New York Post reported on Nov 7, 2019 on its website that Mahud Villalaz, a 42-year-old Latin American, was attacked by Clifton A. Blackwell, a white man who asked Villalaz, "why did you invade my county?" and threw acid in Villalaz’s face.
针对犹太教与伊斯兰教的不宽容持续恶化。联邦调查局年度报告显示,2018年单一偏见仇恨犯罪案件中,20.2%涉及宗教仇恨犯罪。在宗教仇恨犯罪案件的1617名受害者中,犹太人占59.6%,穆斯林占14.6%。皮尤研究中心2019年3月的一项调查显示,绝大多数美国受访者认为美国存在宗教歧视,尤其是针对穆斯林的歧视。82%的受访者认为,穆斯林在美国至少面临一些歧视;56%的受访者认为,穆斯林受到很多歧视。63%的受访者表示,穆斯林身份在一定程度上有损其在美国社会发展的机会;31%的受访者认为,穆斯林身份严重损害其在美国社会发展的机会。64%的受访者认为犹太人在美国面临某种程度的歧视,比2016年高出20个百分点。联合国宗教或信仰自由问题特别报告员的报告指出,美国存在异常暴力化的反犹太主义。个别犹太教堂发生大规模枪击事件,造成人员伤亡。反犹太分子在社交媒体散布植根于极右翼白人至上主义意识形态的反犹太主义阴谋论。受白人至上主义意识形态驱使的枪手攻击犹太教堂会众。联合国当代形式种族主义、种族歧视、仇外心理和相关不容忍行为问题特别报告员对美国反犹太主义的惊人蔓延表示严重关切。她指出,与新纳粹团体及其附属的白人至上主义和白人民族主义团体有关的反犹太主义事件急剧增加。2018年,受极端主义意识形态鼓动的知名极端主义群体或个人制造了249起反犹太主义事件,这是自2004年以来的最高水平,是20世纪70年代有追踪数据以来的第三高。
Intolerance against Judaism and Islam continues to worsen. The FBI annual report found that 20.2 percent of the single-bias hate crimes were prompted by the offenders’ religious bias. Of the 1,617 victims of anti-religious hate crimes, 56.9 percent were victims of crimes motivated by offenders’ anti-Jewish bias and 14.6 percent were victims of anti-Islamic (Muslim) bias. Americans say some religious groups continue to be discriminated against and disadvantaged, according to an analysis of Pew Research Center surveys in March 2019. About 82 percent of respondents say Muslims are subject to at least some discrimination in the United States, and 56 percent say Muslims are discriminated against a lot. A total of 63 percent of respondents say that being Muslim hurts someone’s chances for advancement in American society at least a little, including 31 percent who say it hurts their chances a lot. In the 2019 survey, 64 percent say Jews face at least some discrimination in the United States, up 20 percentage points from the last time this question was asked in 2016. The UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief noted the exceptionally violent anti-Semitic incidents in the United States, including a deadly shooting in a synagogue which had caused great loss of lives and injuries. The shooter’s comments during the attack and his social media activity on the days preceding it revealed a belief in a host of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories rooted in a far-right, white supremacist ideology. Later, another gunman similarly motivated by white supremacist ideology attacked a separate synagogue. The UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance also expressed grave concern at the alarming rise of anti-Semitism in the United States. She noted with concern alarming increases in anti-Semitic incidents tied to neo-Nazi groups and affiliated white supremacist and white nationalist groups. Known extremist groups or individuals inspired by extremist ideology were responsible for 249 anti-Semitic incidents in 2018, the highest level of anti-Semitic incidents with known connections to extremists or extremist groups since 2004 and the third-highest year on record since the organization started tracking the data in the 1970s.
土著人权利遭受侵犯。联合国适当生活水准权问题特别报告员在报告中指出,美国印第安人等土著居民与具有同样资格的白人竞争租房时,受到不利对待的可能性高达28%,还可能因受到歧视而被拒绝延长租赁合同。美国全国公共广播电台网站2019年11月18日报道,一份名为“缩小美国用水差距”的报告显示,土著居民在用水方面比其他任何群体遭遇更多的困难。每1000户土著居民家庭中就有58户缺乏自来水管道系统,相比之下,每1000户白人家庭中只有3户没有自来水管道系统。这种差距使得土著居民面临更多公共卫生问题,从而导致更高的失业率、贫困率、死亡率。针对土著人的凶杀案和失踪案的发生率远高于平均值。以蒙大拿州为例,原住民成为凶杀案受害者的可能性几乎是普通居民的四倍。在该州,土著居民仅占总人口的6.7%,却占失踪人口的26%。在夏威夷,土著居民占总人口的10%,却占无家可归人口的39%,生活费用的增加和旅游业的发展迫使他们离开家园。2019年5月10日,联合国消除种族歧视委员会致函美国政府,对计划在夏威夷州莫纳基亚建造一座30米长的望远镜可能影响土著居民对其祖传土地的权利表示关切。该项目缺乏协商,侵犯了土著居民的自由、事先和知情同意权。该委员会还就位于夏威夷州毛伊中部的卡那卡毛利土著居民的墓地普乌恩沙丘群遭亵渎一事表示关切。多年来,该墓地所在地区被用于采掘活动,无数坟墓被迁走,却从未征得当地土著居民同意。
The rights of indigenous people have been violated. The UN Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living and on the right to non-discrimination in this context said in a report that Native Americans were subjected to adverse treatment 28 per cent of the time when they tried to rent a home in competition with a similarly qualified, non-indigenous white individual. Native Americans may also be refused to extend rental contracts on the basis of discrimination. A report released on Nov 18, 2019 by the National Public Radio, called "Closing the Water Access Gap in the United States," shows that native Americans are more likely to have trouble accessing water than any other group. Fifty-eight out of every 1,000 Native American households lack plumbing, compared with 3 out of every 1,000 white households, according to the report. This disparity has implications for public health. Native Americans experience more deaths, poverty and higher unemployment rates. The incidence of murders and disappearances against indigenous people is well above average. Native Americans are nearly four times more likely to be victims of homicide than the general population in Montana,, where Native Americans are just 6.7 percent of the total population, but make up 26 percent of missing persons cases. In Hawaii, indigenous Hawaiians and other Pacific islanders accounted for only 10 percent of the overall population, but for 39 percent of the people experiencing homelessness. These numbers continue to grow as the cost of living increases and tourism development forces them to leave their homelands. On May 10, 2019, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination sent a letter to the government of the United States raising its concern that the planned construction of a 30-meter telescope on Mauna Kea in the State of Hawaii might affect the rights of indigenous peoples over their ancestral lands. It also expressed concern about allegations of a lack of adequate consultation and failure to seek the free, prior and informed consent of indigenous peoples. The Committee also expressed concerns regarding the desecration of the Pu’uone sand dunes complex, a burial site of the Kanaka Maoli indigenous people in Central Maui in the State of Hawaii, which had reportedly been used for extractive activities over a period of years without the free, prior and informed consent of Kanaka Maoli and resulted in the removal of innumerable graves in the area.
皮尤研究中心发布的《2019年美国种族》报告指出,在美国废除奴隶制150多年后,奴隶制的遗毒仍然深刻影响着非洲裔的社会地位。美国种族歧视系统地反映在贫困率、住房、教育、刑事犯罪率、司法和卫生保健等方方面面。超过40%的美国人认为“美国在种族平等方面没有取得足够的进展”,约58%的人认为“美国的种族关系十分糟糕”,约65%的人表示“近年来美国社会的种族主义言论变得越来越普遍”。76%的非洲裔和亚裔以及58%的拉美裔受访者表示,他们曾因种族或族群身份而遭受歧视或受到不公平对待。53%的受访者表示种族关系正在恶化。73%的非洲裔、69%的拉美裔、65%的亚裔、49%的白人受访者表示,美国现任政府使种族关系恶化。59%的受访者认为,白人身份有助于在美国取得成功。约三分之二的受访者认为,非洲裔在与执法司法部门打交道时受到歧视。超过半数非洲裔受访者认为,“美国不可能实现种族平等”。 According to a Pew Research Center survey titled Race in America 2019, more than 150 years after the 13th Amendment abolished slavery in the United States, most US adults say the legacy of slavery continues to have an impact on the position of people of African descent in American society today. More than four-in-ten say the country hasn’t made enough progress toward racial equality. About 58 percent say race relations in the United States are bad, and about 65 percent say it’s become more common for people to express racist views in recent years. About 76 percent of African descendants and Asians and 58 percent of Hispanics say they have experienced discrimination or have been treated unfairly because of their race or ethnicity at least from time to time. A total of 53 percent of the surveyed says race relations are getting worse. Most African descendants (73 percent), Hispanics (69 percent) and Asians (65 percent) say the current administration has made race relations worse, compared with about half of whites (49 percent). About 59 percent say that being white helps people’s ability to get ahead in the country at least a little. About two thirds of the respondents say people of African descent are treated unfairly by the criminal justice system and in dealing with police. More than half of African American adults say it’s not too or not at all likely that the country will eventually achieve racial equality.
四、妇女面临严重歧视与暴力
IV. Severe Discrimination and Violence Against Women
建国两个多世纪以来,美国妇女一直在为争取性别平等而斗争。但时至今日,美国仍未批准《消除对妇女一切形式歧视公约》,妇女依然遭受着系统的、广泛的、制度化的歧视,各种公开的、隐蔽的性别歧视现象触目惊心。 Since the founding of the United States over two centuries ago, women have been fighting for gender equality. But even to this day, the United States has still not ratified the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women. Women in the United States still face systematic, broad and institutional discrimination, with shocking overt and covert gender discrimination in various forms.
女性面临严重暴力侵犯。据城镇枪支安全组织网站2019年10月17日报道,在枪支泛滥的大背景下,美国成为高收入国家中女性处境最危险的国度。2015年,高收入国家被枪杀的女性中92%来自美国,美国女性被枪击致死的概率比其他高收入国家高21倍,近半被枪击致死的女性是被现任或前任亲密伴侣杀害的。研究发现,在施暴过程中,枪支使施暴者杀害女性的可能性增加了5倍。美国平均每个月有52名女性被其伴侣枪杀致死,有450万名妇女被报道曾受到枪支威胁。《今日美国报》网站2019年11月20日报道,与家庭暴力有关的谋杀案的数量正在不断上升。联合国妇女署数据显示,多达70%美国女性曾遭受来自亲密伴侣的身体或性暴力。美国全国反家庭暴力联盟称,三分之一的女性遭受过亲密伴侣的暴力。在被谋杀的女性中,三分之一是被亲密伴侣杀害的。
Women face severe violent assaults. Everytown Research reported on its website on Oct 17, 2019 that the United States was the most dangerous country for women among high-income nations considering its widespread and growing use of guns by abusers. In 2015, an astounding 92 percent of all women killed with guns in these countries were from the United States. Women in the United States were 21 times more likely to die by firearm homicide than women in peer nations, and nearly half of female firearm homicide victims were killed by a current or former intimate partner, the report said. The study found that access to a gun made it five times more likely that the abusive partner will kill his female victim. Every month, an average of 52 women were shot and killed by an intimate partner, with 4.5 million women having reported being threatened with a gun. USA Today reported on Nov 20, 2019 that the number of domestic violence-related homicides was rising. According to UN Women, up to 70 percent of US women had experienced physical or sexual violence from an intimate partner in their lifetime. According to the US National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, one in three women had experienced some form of physical violence by an intimate partner. Of women who were murdered, one in three was killed by an intimate partner.
女性普遍面临性侵犯和性骚扰威胁。美国“停止街头骚扰”组织、加州大学圣地亚哥分校等多家机构联合研究指出,81%的美国女性称在一生中经历过某种形式的性骚扰或性侵犯。发表在《美国医学会内科学》的一项研究显示,超过330万18岁至44岁的美国女性在第一次发生性行为时遭到强奸。研究人员推断,美国每16位女性中就有1位有类似经历,这些遭受侵犯的女性平均年龄仅为15.6岁。联合国网站2019年11月24日引用联合国妇女署数据指出,近四分之一的美国女大学生表示曾遭到过性侵或性骚扰。美国有线电视新闻网2019年5月2日报道,根据五角大楼发布的报告,美国现役女兵的被性侵率显著上升,17岁至24岁的女性遭受性侵的风险最高。《陆军时报》网站2019年8月21日报道,现役女兵被性侵的比率,从2016年的4.4%上升到2018年的5.8%。 Women face common sexual offending and sexual harassment. According to a joint survey by institutions including US nonprofit organization Stop Street Harassment and University of California San Diego, 81 percent of women had experienced some form of sexual harassment during their lifetime. According to a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine, more than 3.3 million US women aged 18 to 44 were raped the first time they had sexual intercourse. Researchers estimated that one in 16 US women had similar experiences and the average age of women who experienced forced sexual initiation was 15.6. The UN website cited data from UN Women on Nov 24, 2019 that about a quarter of female undergraduate university students reported having experienced sexual assault or sexual misconduct. CNN reported on May 2, 2019 that, according to a report released by the Pentagon, sexual assault rates for women in the active duty force increased significantly, with women between the ages of 17 to 24 being at the highest risk of sexual assault. Army Times reported on Aug 21, 2019 that sexual assault prevalence in the Army rose for women from 4.4 percent in 2016 to 5.8 percent in 2018.
性侵案件数量持续上升。根据联邦调查局2019年发布的《2018年美国犯罪报告》,2018年执法部门收到了139380起强奸案件的报告,比2017年增长2.7%,比2014年增长18.1%。《丹佛邮报》网站2019年3月15日报道,51名女性受害者向科罗拉多州联邦法院提起诉讼,指控美国奥委会在国家体操队前队医纳沙尔和前教练员性侵队员事件中的“不作为”。大多数原告在被侵害时为未成年人,最小的受害者当时仅8岁。51名原告称,美国奥委会本可以阻止这些侵害行为,但他们没有采取有效措施。 Sexual assault cases kept increasing. According to the 2018 Crime in the United States report released by the FBI in 2019, there were an estimated 139,380 rapes reported to law enforcement in 2018, 2.7 percent higher than the 2017 estimate and 18.1 percent higher than the 2014 estimate. According to a report by the Denver Post on March 15, 2019, 51 females filed charges to the US District Court for the District of Colorado against the US Olympic Committee, its officers, directors and national governing board for failing to prevent sexual abuse by former coaches and national team doctor Larry Nassar. A majority of the plaintiffs were minors at the time of the abuse and some were still minors, with the youngest athlete listed in the lawsuit being only eight. The 51 plaintiffs said the US Olympic Committee could have prevented the abuse of young female athletes, but failed to take effective measures.
职场性别歧视广泛存在。《路易斯安那周报》网站2019年12月16日报道称,超过40%的女性表示,她们在工作中遭遇过性别歧视,无法获得同工同酬或升职。人口普查局2019年11月发布的数据显示,2018年,全职女性员工周薪中位数是全职男性员工的81%。《纽约时报》网站2019年2月8日报道,美国大公司里普遍存在对怀孕女性的歧视,拒绝招聘孕妇或不给予孕妇升职加薪是普遍现象,雇员一旦抱怨就会被解雇。《赫芬顿邮报》网站2019年12月4日报道指出,美国是少数不保证给新生儿母亲提供带薪休假的国家之一。智库机构“新美国”的调查显示,48%的母亲在休假照顾幼儿时无法获得任何薪酬。马萨诸塞大学社会学家的研究显示,每生育一个孩子会让女性时薪减少4%。美国平等就业机会委员会每年收到有关歧视孕妇的投诉数量在过去20年稳步上升,目前维持在历史最高水平。据世界经济论坛全球性别鸿沟指数的估算数据,美国还需要208年才能实现两性平等。
Gender discrimination in the workplace extensively exists. The Louisiana Weekly on Dec 16, 2019 reported that, among women, more than four in ten said they had experienced gender discrimination in the workplace when it comes to getting equal pay or promotions. Data released by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics in November 2019 showed that, in 2018, women who were full-time wage and salary workers had median usual weekly earnings that were 81 percent of the earnings of male full-time wage and salary workers. The New York Times on Feb 8, 2019 reported that throughout the US workplace, pregnancy discrimination remained widespread. They were passed over for promotions and raises, and were fired when they complain, the report said. HuffPost reported on Dec 4, 2019 that the United States was one of just a handful of countries that does not guarantee any paid time off to new mothers. New America's report showed that 48 percent of mothers had taken unpaid leave to care for a new baby. Each child chopped 4 percent off a woman's hourly wages, according to an analysis by a sociologist at the University of Massachusetts. The number of pregnancy discrimination claims filed annually with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission had been steadily rising for two decades and was hovering near an all-time high. Based on data from the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Index, it was estimated that it would take the United States another 208 years to reach gender equality.
性别歧视与种族歧视叠加。性别与种族双重歧视使得少数种族妇女处境尤为悲惨。《慈善新闻摘要》网站2019年2月8日报道,一项针对逾4300名非营利组织工作人员的调查显示,少数种族女性在求职或升职时经常因肤色或性别而遭受不公平对待。波士顿公共广播电台网站2019年10月28日报道,女性从事低薪酬工作的比例远高于男性。只有20%的白人男性从事低薪工作,而有40%的非洲裔女性从事低薪工作,46%的拉美裔女性从事低薪工作。美国消费者新闻与商业频道网站2019年4月2日报道,非洲裔女性的收入只有白人男性的61%,土著女性的收入只有白人男性的58%,拉美裔女性的收入仅为白人男性的53%。《华尔街日报》网站2019年11月22日报道称,拉美裔女性承受着少数种族女性中最严重的性别工资差异。2019年的数据显示,拉美裔女性的收入比白人男性低46%,比白人女性低31%。
Problems of gender and racial discrimination overlap. Faced with both gender and racial discrimination, ethnic minority women were under particularly miserable conditions. Philanthropy News Digest reported on Feb 8, 2019 that, based on a survey of over 4,300 nonprofit staff, women of color were unfairly treated in terms of finding new jobs and promotions. WBUR reported on Oct 28, 2019 that only about 20 percent of white men were working in low-wage jobs, while 40 percent of black women were working in low wage jobs and then 46 percent of Latino or Hispanic women. CNBC reported on April 2, 2019 that black women earned 61 US cents for every dollar earned by their white male counterparts. The reported added that Native American women earned 58 cents to every dollar, and Latina women earned 53 cents. The Wall Street Journal reported on Nov 22, 2019 that Latina women suffered from the worst gender wage gap for any group of minority women. Data for 2019 showed that Latina women earned 46 percent less than white men and 31 percent less than white women.
女性面临更严重的贫困威胁。《今日美国报》网站2019年11月6日报道,华尔街职业分析机构对美国人口普查局相关统计数据的分析指出,更高比例的女性生活在贫困线以下。男性生活在贫困线以下的比例为10.6%,而女性的这一比例高达12.9%。美国是工资性别差距最大的发达国家,70%的穷人是妇女和儿童。美国710万贫困老年人中,几乎三分之二是女性。根据人口普查局的估算,65岁以上的女性中有16%生活在贫困线以下。非洲裔、拉美裔和土著老年妇女的贫困率几乎是白人老年妇女的两倍。哈佛大学的一项研究显示,自2009年以来,美国国会大幅削减了对妇女商业发展中心的资助。联邦和各州也都减少了帮助妇女抚养子女与重新就业的资金和项目。这使得妇女贫困问题雪上加霜。
Women face more severe threat from poverty. USA Today reported on Nov 6, 2019 that, according to 24/7 Wall St., women were far more likely than men to live below the poverty line. A total of 10.6 percent of men in the United States lived below the poverty line, while 12.9 percent for women. Gender wage gap in the United States remained among the highest in the rich world and 70 percent of US poor were women and children. Of the 7.1 million older adults living in poverty in the United States, nearly two out of three were women. The US Census Bureau estimated that 16 percent of women aged over 65 lived at or below the poverty line. Black, Hispanic, and Native American women were almost two times more likely to live in poverty than older white women. According to a Harvard study, US Congress had severely cut funding to women's business development centers beginning in 2009. In addition, nearly every state in the United States had cut funding and programs (also reduced at the federal level) that had once helped women enforce their child support awards and trained them to re-enter the workforce. Such moves had exacerbated women's poverty problems.
五、弱势群体处境艰难
V. Vulnerable Groups Living in Difficulties
美国作为世界上最大的发达经济体,至今拒绝批准《经济、社会及文化权利国际公约》《儿童权利公约》《残疾人权利公约》等多项核心国际人权公约。政府不仅缺乏足够的政治意愿改善弱势群体的处境,反而不断削减相关资助项目。数千万儿童、老年人、残疾人衣食无着,面临暴力、欺凌、虐待和毒品的威胁,令人匪夷所思。
As the largest developed economy in the world, the United States has been refusing to ratify multiple key international human rights conventions, including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The US government not only has insufficient political will to improve the conditions for vulnerable groups, but also keeps cutting relevant funding projects. Tens of millions of children, elder people, and disabled people live without enough food or clothing, and face threats of violence, bullying, abusing and drugs, which is beyond explanation.
儿童贫困问题触目惊心。《国会山报》网站2019年11月18日报道,尽管世界范围内的极端贫困人口数量已急剧下降,美国的儿童贫困人口比例却与30年前的水平大致相同。经济政策研究所发布的《2018年收入与贫困报告》显示,2018年美国18.4%的儿童生活在贫困中,13%的儿童生活在集中贫困地区。人口普查局的统计数据显示,截至2018年,美国仍有1280万名儿童生活在贫困之中,其中有四分之三是少数种族,少数种族儿童贫困率高达约25%,5岁以下的贫困儿童多达350万,其中160万生活在极端贫困中。佛罗里达州的儿童贫困率高达20.3%。加利福尼亚州有近120万儿童生活在低收入社区,他们更难进入优质公立学校,获得健康食品、医疗服务的机会也更少,长大后也更难摆脱贫困代际传递。美国儿童保护基金发布的报告评论称,“在全球最富有的国家,居然还有超过五分之一的儿童每天都不得不面对无比残酷的现实——下顿吃什么,今晚睡哪里?”
Child poverty is a shocking problem. The Hill reported on Nov 18, 2019 that while levels of extreme poverty worldwide had dropped dramatically, the poverty ratio of US children was about the same rate as 30 years ago. The Economic Policy Institute's 2018 Income and Poverty report showed that, nationwide, 18.4 percent of children lived in poverty, and 13 percent of children lived in areas of concentrated poverty. Data from the US Census Bureau showed that 12.8 million US children lived in poverty by 2018. Children of color made up nearly three-quarters of all poor children in 2018. Nearly one in four children of color in the United States was poor. A total of 3.5 million children under 5 were poor in 2018, with 1.6 million of those children living in extreme poverty. The overall child poverty rate was 20.3 percent in Florida. Nearly 1.2 million California children lived in low-income neighborhoods, who were less likely than those in more affluent areas to have access to quality public schools, healthy food and medical care, also making it harder for them to break out of the poverty cycle once they become adults. No child should have to worry where her next meal will come from or whether she will have a place to sleep each night in the wealthiest nation on Earth. Yet about one in five children in the United States lived in poverty and faced these harsh realities every day, said a report issued by the Children's Defense Fund.
儿童受虐问题令人震惊。美国卫生及公共服务部下属的儿童与家庭管理局2019年1月28日发布的《虐待儿童报告》显示,2017财年收到的虐待儿童报案共涉及350万儿童,比上期报告发布的2013财年增长10%;经调查确定为虐待受害者的儿童有约67.4万,比2013财年增长2.7%,其中1720名儿童死亡;受虐儿童中被身体虐待的占18.3%,被性虐待的占8.6%。印第安纳州是儿童受虐问题最严重的州,仅2016年7月1日至2017年6月30日该州就有65名儿童因受虐而死。哥伦比亚广播公司网站2019年8月6日报道,非营利组织“关爱儿童协会”发布的报告显示,美国每年接到报告的儿童性侵案件多达约6.5万起。
Child abuse is an alarming problem. The US Administration for Children and Families, a division of the Department of Health and Human Services, on Jan 28, 2019 published the report of Child Maltreatment 2017, showing that approximately 3.5 million children were involved in the child victim reports, increasing by approximately 10 percent from 2013 to 2017. Investigations found about 674,000 victims of child abuse and neglect, 2.7 percent higher than that in 2013. A national estimate of 1,720 children died from abuse and neglect. According to the data, 18.3 percent were physically abused, and 8.6 percent were sexually abused. Indiana had the worst child abuse problems, with as many as 65 children dying due to abuse and/or neglect from July 1, 2016, to June 30, 2017. CBS News reported on Aug 6, 2019 that about 65,000 cases of child sex abuse were reported annually, according to non-profit organization American Society for the Positive Care of Children.
校园安全环境不断恶化。美国国家教育统计中心2019年4月发布的数据显示,2017年美国12岁至18岁的学生中,有82.7万次在校受侵害经历和50.38万次校外受侵害经历。网络欺凌事件在全国范围内呈上升趋势,女孩在网上或短信中受到骚扰的人数是男孩的3倍。路易斯安那州是美国校园欺凌问题最严重的州,每4个人中就有1人遭受过欺凌。校园内的枪击事件此起彼伏。美国有线电视新闻网2019年11月19日报道指出,美国2019年的前46周就发生了45起校园枪击事件,几乎每星期1起。
Campus safety conditions keep worsening. According to data released by the National Center for Education Statistics in April 2019, in 2017, among students ages 12-18, there were about 827,000 total victimizations at school and 503,800 victimizations away from school. There was a rise in cyberbullying nationwide, with three times as many girls reporting being harassed online or by text message than boys. Louisiana led the United States in incidents of bullying with nearly one in four students reporting being bullied. School shootings took place time and again. CNN reported on Nov 19, 2019 that there had been 45 school shootings in the first 46 weeks of 2019, with nearly an average of one school shooting a week.
老年人贫困问题越来越严重。《市场观察》网站2019年5月19日报道,非营利组织“美国食物供给”的研究显示,2017年,美国60岁以上的老年人中,每12人中就有1人缺乏足够的食物,总人数达到550万。新墨西哥州、路易斯安那州、密西西比州是问题最严重的地方,超过10%的老年人受到饥饿威胁的影响。新学院大学施瓦茨经济政策分析中心的一项研究显示,到65岁时,约40%的美国中产阶级将接近或陷入贫困。英国《卫报》网站2019年5月24日报道,美国的社会保障不足以使数量惊人的老年人免于贫困。在正处于工作年龄段的人中,62%的非洲裔美国人和69%的拉美裔美国人没有退休储蓄金。这意味着他们到了退休年龄几乎完全依赖社会保障。
Poverty of the elderly becomes worse. MarketWatch reported on May 19, 2019 that, according to research by Feeding America, a nonprofit organization, an alarming one in 12 seniors aged 60 and older — 5.5 million people — did not have enough food in 2017. New Mexico, Louisiana and Mississippi were the three states with the highest number of seniors — more than 10 percent of the state's senior population affected by the hunger crisis. About 40 percent of middle-class Americans would live close to or in poverty by the time they reach age 65, according to a study by the Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis at the New School. The Guardian reported on May 24, 2019 that social security was, in the end, insufficient to protect a surprisingly large number of older Americans from poverty. Of those who were still at working ages, 62 percent of African Americans and 69 percent of Latinos had no retirement savings, which meant that they were almost entirely reliant on social security after retirement.
老年人难以承受高额医疗支出。《健康事务》杂志2019年发布的一项全国性调查显示,53%身患重病的受访者称尽管他们享有联邦医保,在支付医药费时还是遇到了严重困难。非营利机构凯泽家庭基金会指出,长期护理支出是美国老年人医疗花费的大头,而这部分费用不在联邦医保覆盖范围之内。其中,阿尔茨海默病、帕金森病等疾病的长期护理支出最为昂贵。
Medical expenses are too high for the elder to afford. According to a nationwide survey published by Health Affairs in 2019, 53 percent of respondents with severe illnesses were faced with serious problems when dealing with medical bills even they were Medicare beneficiaries. The Kaiser Family Foundation, a non-profit organization, said US elder people spent the most on long-term care facility services, which were not covered by Medicare. Among them, people with Alzheimer's disease or Parkinson's disease spent the most on long-term care services.
养老服务昂贵且问题丛生。《旧金山纪事报》网站2019年10月19日报道,美国的养老服务极其昂贵。除非老年人享有医疗补助,否则照顾老年人的费用会使一个家庭陷入贫困。例如,在纽约州奥尔巴尼县的养老院,无法获得政府医疗补助的老人每天的费用支出高达约400美元。联邦参议院2019年发布的一份报告显示,美国有近400家养老院存在着严重而持续的健康护理、安全保障和卫生环境问题,但联邦政府多年来始终没有披露这些养老院的名单,使这些问题持续存在并难以改善。
Elderly care services are expensive and fraught with problems. SFGATE reported on Oct 19, 2019 that the cost of care for the elderly in the United States was too high. The cost could put a family into the poor house unless the elderly person qualifies for Medicaid. For example, nursing homes in Albany County cost around $400 a day on average if the elderly person doesn't qualify for Medicaid. Nearly 400 facilities in the United States had serious ongoing health, safety or sanitary problems, according to a Senate report in 2019. But the federal government for years had kept under wraps their names, which made the problems left unsolved and hard to fix.
老年人受虐待和自杀现象令人震惊。医疗新闻网2019年6月14日报道,美国16%的老年人是某种虐待的受害者,包括财务剥削、疏于照顾、身体虐待、心理虐待、性虐待等。每年因暴力虐待导致老年人受伤所产生的医疗费用超过53亿美元。全国疾病控制与预防中心的数据显示,2017年美国有超过8500名65岁以上的老年人自杀。由于老年人精神更孤独、身体更虚弱、生活更孤立,老年人的自杀成功率高达25%,是年轻人的50倍。
Elderly abuse and suicide rates are shocking. Medical Xpress reported on June 14, 2019 that about 16 percent of older adults were victims of some form of mistreatment, including financial exploitation, neglect, physical abuse, psychological abuse and sexual abuse. More than $5.3 billion was spent annually on medical care related to injuries incurred by older adults as a result of violent crime. More than 8,500 people aged 65 or above committed suicide in the United States in 2017, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Due to the fact that seniors were lonelier, frailer and more isolated, one out of four senior citizens that attempted suicide died, 50 times the possibility for younger people.
残疾人就业受到严重歧视。美国进步中心网站2019年7月26日报道,美国残疾人的贫困率几乎是正常人的2倍。每4名残疾人中就有1人在就业和获得收入方面面临重重困难,对残疾人的歧视与偏见广泛存在。美国全国广播公司网站2019年8月9日报道,平等就业机会委员会发布的数据显示,残疾人职工被解雇的比率几乎是非残疾人的两倍。2017年,联邦政府共解雇了2626名全职残疾员工,比2016年增长24%。美国劳工统计局2019年发布的就业报告显示,2019年3月美国工作年龄残疾人就业人口比例同比下降了1.9%。
Disabled people face severe discrimination when finding jobs. The Center for American Progress reported on July 26, 2019 that disabled adults experienced poverty at nearly twice the rate of their nondisabled counterparts. One in four Americans with disabilities faced unique challenges in securing gainful employment and establishing financial security. Widespread ableism and stereotypes against disable people persisted. NBC News reported on Aug 9, 2019 that, according to Equal Employment Opportunity Commission federal workforce data, workers with disabilities were fired at almost two times the rate of those without disabilities. The government fired 2,626 disabled employees in 2017, a 24 percent increase over 2016. A report released in 2019 by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that the employment-to-population ratio for working-age people with disabilities decreased by 1.9 percent year-on-year.
政府助残项目可及性不足。美国政府通过缩小残疾定义的外延,对医疗补助和营养援助等政府项目的覆盖人群加以限制。一些助残项目残疾人等待时间过长,动辄数年。《芝加哥论坛报》网站2019年12月3日报道,伊利诺伊州一个为残疾人提供家庭护理、职业培训和其他服务的助残项目,已有近2万残疾人在排队等待,平均等待时间长达7年。《今日美国报》网站2019年9月16日报道,凯泽家庭基金会报告说,美国有600多万身心残疾的儿童依赖政府提供的医疗保健,但由于项目设计存在缺陷,导致他们难以得到及时有效的治疗。
The accessibility of government projects to help the disabled is not enough. The government was narrowly crafting specialized definitions of disability to restrict access to critical support programs such as Medicaid and nutrition assistance. Some projects to help the disabled kept them waiting for too long, even for years. Chicago Tribune reported on Dec 3, 2019 that nearly 20,000 people with developmental disabilities in Illinois were on a waiting list for disabilities services including home care and job coaches, among services. Most waited an average of seven years before they are selected. USA Today reported on Sept 16, 2019 that, according to the Kaiser Foundation, more than 6 million kids with physical and mental disabilities relied on government health care, but these programs were so poorly designed that it made it harder for their recipients to get good, timely care.
无障碍环境建设不力。《洛杉矶时报》网站2019年4月1日报道,由于政府监管不力,洛杉矶政府资助的廉价住房项目建成后,轮椅使用者无法顺利进入厨房、浴室、阳台和其他生活空间,水槽、厨房柜台等设施也没有考虑到残疾人的需求,这不符合联邦建筑标准和《美国残疾人法》的要求。《国家法律评论》网站2019年8月2日报道,2019年上半年,针对公共服务网站不能为残疾人提供无障碍服务的诉讼激增。《财富》杂志网站2019年9月21日报道,2019年1月,帕克伍德娱乐公司遭到集体起诉,该公司网站被指控违反《美国残疾人法》未能向有严重视力障碍的人提供便利,导致约200万盲人和其他有视力障碍的人无法访问其网站。
Barrier-free environment is under poor construction. Los Angeles Times reported on April 1, 2019 that, due to the government's poor oversight, a project to build low-income apartments with federal funds of Los Angeles failed to allow wheelchair users have safe access to kitchens, bathrooms, balconies and other living spaces. Sinks and kitchen counters were also unusable for wheelchair users, which did not comply with federal housing requirements and the Americans with Disabilities Act. The National Law Review on Aug 2, 2019 reported that, in the first half of 2019, website accessibility cases had significantly increased, where plaintiffs with disabilities alleged that they could not access websites. Fortune reported on Sept 21, 2019 that, in January 2019, Parkwood Entertainment became the defendant in a class-action lawsuit alleging that it violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and failed to provide accommodation for people with significant vision impairments, leaving an estimated 2 million blind people and others with vision impairments unable to access the website.
六、移民遭受非人道对待
VI. Migrants Suffer Inhumane Treatment
美国数十年在拉丁美洲“后院”的干涉政策直接导致了美洲地区移民问题不断恶化。美国现任政府却基于政治考虑,采取史无前例的极端措施和非人道的执法行动残酷对待移民,侵犯移民人权事件频繁发生,受到国际社会严厉谴责。
Decades of US intervention in its “backyard” Latin America directly led to the worsening of the immigration problems in the Americas. The current US government, out of political considerations, took unprecedented extreme measures and inhumane law enforcement actions toward immigrants, resulting in frequent human rights violations of immigrants that were severely condemned by the international community.
“零容忍”政策造成骨肉分离。近年来,美国政府日趋严苛和非人道地对待移民,尤其是2018年4月实施“零容忍”政策,导致大量儿童被迫与父母、兄弟姐妹分离。美国公民自由联盟网站2019年10月25日报道,自2017年7月以来,美国移民当局在边境已将5400多名儿童与父母分离。该组织律师李·格勒恩特认为,这项不人道和非法的政策使数千家庭支离破碎,“很多家庭承受了永难抚平的巨大伤痛。”被分离的孩子被关在单独的设施中长达数月。美国海关和边境保护局提供的录像显示,一些儿童甚至被关在笼子里,身上仅盖着薄毯。时任联合国人权事务高级专员扎伊德·侯赛因在2018年6月18日人权理事会会议上表示,将移民儿童与父母分离,可能构成“受到政府批准的儿童虐待”。联合国移民人权问题特别报告员莫拉莱斯呼吁美国停止基于移民身份对无人陪伴以及与家人同行的儿童实施拘禁。他表示,基于移民身份对儿童实施拘禁违反国际法,有损儿童福祉,将对儿童产生长期严重的不利影响。《华盛顿邮报》网站2019年7月30日报道,美国政府迫于各方谴责和压力,不得不表面上终止了“零容忍”政策,却继续强行将近1000名儿童与父母分离,其中20%的儿童年龄不足5岁。美国政府将儿童与其寻求庇护的父母强行分开,上述行径严重危及移民的生命权、人格尊严和人身自由等多项人权。联合国网站2019年9月9日报道,联合国人权事务高级专员米歇尔·巴切莱特在人权理事会第42届会议开幕式上发表讲话指出,美国政府继续将移民儿童与其父母分开,并试图制定无限期拘留儿童的行政规则,这一系列政策大大减少了对移民家庭的保护,给儿童造成深刻的创伤,这是没有任何理由可以开脱的。
"Zero-tolerance" policy caused family separation. In recent years, the US government had adopted increasingly strict and inhumane measures against immigrants, in particular the “zero-tolerance” policy announced in April 2018 which caused the separations of many families. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) reported on its website on Oct 25, 2019 that US immigration authorities had separated more than 5,400 children from their parents at the Mexico border since July 2017. Lee Gelernt, attorney of the ACLU, said the inhumane and illegal policy torn apart thousands of families, including babies and toddlers. “Families have suffered tremendously, and some may never recover.” Some children were detained in separate facilities for months. Video footage provided by the US Customs and Border Protection showed children in cages and under thin space blankets. The practice of forcing parents to part with their children could constitute "government-sanctioned child abuse," Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, UN high commissioner for human rights, said at a Human Rights Council session on June 18, 2018. Felipe González Morales, the UN special rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, called for a halt to the detention of unaccompanied migrant children and families with children for reasons related to their administrative immigration status. He said detention of children based on their migratory status was a violation of the international law, noting that the move was detrimental to the well-being of a child and produced long-term severe adverse impacts on children. The Washington Post reported on its website on July 30, 2019 that the US government had taken nearly 1,000 migrant children from their parents at the US-Mexico border since the judge ordered the US government to curtail the practice more than a year ago. Approximately 20 percent of the new separations affected children under 5 years old. The practice of forcing children to separate from their parents severely infringed migrants’ human rights. In a speech delivered by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet at the 42nd session of the Human Rights Council on Sept 9, 2019, she said the continued separation of migrant children from their parents and the prospect of a new rule which would enable children to be indefinitely detained had sharply reduced the protection for migrant families. “Nothing can justify inflicting such profound trauma on any child.”
- 拓展学习:小词详解 | morale
移民儿童处境悲惨。《华盛顿邮报》网站2019年8月22日报道,国土安全部等部门发布新规定,将允许美国拘留中心扣押儿童及其父母超过20天,这使得政府可以根据需要拘留整个家庭,甚至允许几乎无限制地监禁儿童。截至2019年9月,至少有2838名移民儿童被隔离关押在得克萨斯州35个收容所内,这些收容所长期存在严重的卫生和安全问题。2016年至2019年,检查人员发现了超过552项卫生和安全违规行为。《洛杉矶时报》网站2019年12月10日报道,2018年联邦移民拘留中心有3名儿童死于流感,死亡率是普通人群的10倍。马里奥·门多萨医生说,执法当局拒绝向儿童提供基本医疗保健是故意的、残忍的、不人道的。《纽约时报》网站2019年6月26日报道,由律师、医生、记者等组成的检查团在考察得克萨斯州克林特边境收容所的拘留所时发现,儿童身处监狱般的环境中,数百名儿童被关在一个牢房中,几乎没有成年人监管。有成员将其拘留设施条件比作“酷刑设施”。《巴尔的摩太阳报》网站2019年7月31日报道,美国南部边境的麦卡伦边境巡逻站存在着严重的人道主义危机。移民中心人满为患,许多移民家庭挤住在一起,孩子们被关在笼子里,穿着到美国以后就没有换过的脏衣服。联合国网站2019年7月8日报道,联合国人权事务高级专员米歇尔·巴切莱特对美国拘留中心脏乱拥挤、缺医少食的恶劣条件深感震惊,指出拘留移民儿童可能构成国际法所禁止的残忍、不人道或有辱人格的对待。
Migrant children were in the ordeal. According to a report by the Washington Post on its website on Aug 22, 2019, two federal agencies that handle immigrants — the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Homeland Security — said they would issue a rule allowing children to stay with their parents in US detention centers for longer than the current 20-day maximum. The change would let the administration keep entire families in custody as long as needed and allow virtually unlimited incarceration of children. As of September 2019, at least 2,838 unaccompanied migrant children lived in 35 shelters across Texas. These shelters had a long history of regulatory inspections that had uncovered serious health and safety deficiencies. Between 2016 and 2019, inspectors discovered more than 552 health and safety violations at the facilities. The Los Angeles Times reported on its website on Dec 10, 2019 that three children died from the flu while in federal immigration custody in 2018. The flu mortality rate among migrant children in federal immigration custody was nine times higher than the general population. The report quoted Dr. Mario Mendoza, a retired anesthesiologist, as saying that denying children the basic healthcare being offered was intentionally cruel and inhumane. According to a report by the New York Times on its website on June 26, 2019, a group of journalists, physicians and lawyers were allowed on tours of the border station in Clint, Texas, where hundreds of migrant children were held. A physician likened the conditions to “torture facilities.” According to a report by the Baltimore Sun on its website on July 31, 2019, the conditions of the McAllen Border Patrol Station was disturbing. The author of the report recounted that “I saw many families huddled together in overcrowded conditions. I saw children behind fencing and basically in cages. Some children were in clothing that was soiled and had not been changed since they arrived in the United States.” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said in a report published on the UN website on July 8, 2019 that she was appalled by conditions of migrants and refugees in detention in the United States. “I am deeply shocked that children are forced to sleep on the floor in overcrowded facilities, without access to adequate healthcare or food, and with poor sanitation conditions,” she said, adding that the detention of migrant children may constitute cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment that is prohibited by the international law.
移民受到残酷虐待。《华盛顿邮报》网站2018年11月26日报道,美国当局多次在美国与墨西哥边境使用催泪瓦斯,阻止来自中美洲的移民,导致多人受伤。《纽约时报》2019年6月21日报道,国土安全部监察员的报告显示,埃尔帕索边境收容所处于过度拥挤的危险状况,多达900名移民被关押在一个设计容量为125人拘禁场所中。一些被拘留者被关在只有站立条件的房间长达数天或几个星期。《时代》周刊网站2019年7月10日报道,自2018年以来,共有24名移民在美国边境收容所拘留期间死亡。亚利桑那州新闻网2019年7月8日报道,亚利桑那州犹太人社区团体2019年7月2日在凤凰城组织示威活动,抗议移民拘留中心对人权的侵犯,指出拘留条件严重违反了人道标准,比如食品过期、医疗短缺、浴室发霉和隐瞒安全事故。美国有线电视新闻网2018年6月22日报道,一个收容所的医疗记录显示,拘留儿童被强迫注射了抗精神病药和镇静剂。一名来自萨尔瓦多的13岁少年称,当他试图逃离收容所时,被工作人员殴打致伤,还被注射了“让他平静下来”的药物。一份法庭记录显示,一名11岁女孩称,她每天被要求服用10粒药片,服药后会感到头痛、食欲不振和恶心。一名为逃离父亲虐待入境美国的危地马拉少年被关在加利福尼亚州约洛县少年拘留所近两年,被当作罪犯一样对待。在弗吉尼亚州雪兰多亚山谷青少年收容中心,儿童被工作人员嘲弄、用笔刺伤、抢走衣服和床垫,甚至戴上手铐。
Migrants suffer cruel abuses. The Washington Post reported on its website on Nov 26, 2018 that the US authorities used tear gas on multiple occasions to stop migrants from Central America, injuring many people. According to a report by the New York Times on June 21, 2019, a report of the Department of Homeland Security showed that the border processing center in El Paso held up to 900 migrants at a facility designed for 125. Some of the detainees had been held in standing-room-only conditions for days or weeks. The Time magazine reported on its website on July 10, 2019 that 24 immigrants had died in US custody since 2018. According to a report by Arizona Range News on its website on July 8, 2019, the community group Arizona Jews for Justice organized demonstrations in Phoenix on July 2, 2019, protesting against human rights violations by immigrant detention centers and denouncing the squalid detention conditions that seriously violated humane standards, including expired food, inadequate medical care, moldy bathrooms and unreported security incidents. CNN on June 22, 2018 reported grave abuse at migrant detention facilities. It said the medical records of Shiloh Treatment Center, one of the detention facilities, showed that children were being injected with sedatives and antipsychotics. A 13-year-old from El Salvador described an incident when, after he tried to run away, he was assaulted by staff — causing him to faint and leaving him with bruises. Then, despite his objections, he was given an injection of a drug "to calm him down." An 11-year-old referred to as Maricela in court records said she was taking 10 pills a day that had side effects including headaches, loss of appetite and nausea. One teenager, who fled Guatemala to escape an abusive father and forced child labor, had been in federal custody for almost two years at Yolo County Juvenile Detention Facility in California, another secure facility paid by the government to house migrant children, which he described as a juvenile jail where they were treated like criminals. At Shenandoah Valley Juvenile Center, detainees reported being stabbed with a pen, kept in handcuffs, taunted by staff and being deprived of clothing and mattresses.
美国是美洲地区移民问题不断恶化的始作俑者。英国《卫报》网站2018年12月19日报道,作为美国冷战的衍生品,20世纪80年代拉丁美洲地区的局势不稳定,是造成当今拉丁美洲国家政治和经济困局至关重要的因素,拉丁美洲移民北上正是为了逃脱美国所制造的“地狱”。《汤姆快讯》网站2019年8月15日发表文章称,推动拉丁美洲民众离开家园的因素包括内战、政变、黑帮势力盛行、政府腐败和饥荒等,这些因素的产生很大程度上是由于美国数十年在拉丁美洲“后院”的干涉政策。
The United States was the culprit of the worsening immigration problems in the Americas. The Guardian reported on its website on Dec 19, 2018 that “the destabilization in the 1980s — which was very much part of the US cold war effort — was incredibly important in creating the kind of political and economic conditions that exist in those countries today. The families in the migrant caravans trudging toward the US border are trying to escape a hell that the US has helped to create.” An article carried by commondreams.com on Aug 15, 2019 said that factors driving Central Americans from their homes were political corruption and repression, the power of the drug cartels and climate change — all factors that, in significant ways, could be attributed to the United States’ actions in Latin America for decades.
七、肆意践踏他国人权
VII. The United States Wantonly Trampled on Human Rights in Other Countries
美国为了维护自身的国际霸权,奉行单边主义,践踏以联合国宪章宗旨和原则为核心的国际秩序和国际体系。动辄“退群”“毁约”,推卸国际责任,动摇全球互信合作基础;频频“制裁”“动武”,导致世界多地陷入动荡混乱,引发严重人道主义灾难。
In order to maintain its hegemony over the world, the United States pursued unilateralism and trampled on the international order and international system with the purposes and principles of the UN Charter as its core. As a country that was so good at withdrawing from cooperation, breaching commitments, shirking international responsibilities and shaking the foundation for global cooperation, that was always imposing sanctions and resorting to forces, the United States was the culprit plunging many places around the world into disturbances and chaos, and was responsible for humanitarian disasters that followed.
- 延伸阅读:小词详解 | trample
黩武主义制造人权灾难。美国前总统吉米·卡特在2019年6月的一次演讲中指出,美国在242年的建国历史中仅有16年没有打仗,堪称“世界历史上最好战的国家”,美国在过去几十年里一直处于持续的战争之中,包括伊拉克战争、阿富汗战争、叙利亚战争及也门战争等。美国政府发动的多数战争都是单边主义行动,不仅未经联合国安理会授权,也未得到美国国会的批准。这些战争造成了极为严重的人员伤亡和财产损失,导致了惊人的人权灾难。美国布朗大学沃森国际和公共事务研究所2019年发布的研究报告显示,2001年以来,美国发动战争花费的财政开支超过6.4万亿美元,这些战争共造成80.1万人死亡。据统计,阿富汗战争造成超过4万名平民死亡,约1100万人沦为难民;伊拉克战争造成超过20万平民死亡,约250万人沦为难民;叙利亚战争造成超过4万名平民死亡,660万人逃离家园。美国政府还包庇纵容战争罪犯。联合国人权事务高级专员办公室发言人鲁伯特·科尔维尔2019年11月19日在新闻发布会上表示,美国政府赦免了三名被指控犯有战争罪的美国军人,人权高专办对此非常关切。这三起案件涉及严重违反国际人道法的行为,包括枪杀平民和处决被俘的武装团体成员。
Militarism led to human rights disasters. In a speech delivered by former US President Jimmy Carter in June 2019, he pointed out that the United States had only enjoyed 16 years of peace in its 242-year history, making the country “the most warlike nation in the history of the world.” The United States had been at war for decades, the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen and so on. The majority of the wars started by the United States were unilateral actions, neither authorized by the UN Security Council nor approved by the US Congress. These wars caused large casualties and enormous property loss, leading to appalling human rights disasters. The estimated cost of the United States’ global war on terror since late 2001 stood at $6.4 trillion and it was estimated that up to 801,000 people have died in post-9/11 wars, according to reports released by the Costs of War project based at the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University in 2019. Statistics showed that the Afghanistan war claimed the lives of more than 40,000 civilians and around 11 million Afghan people became refugees. More than 200,000 civilians died in the Iraq war and around 2.5 million became refugees. The death toll of civilians in the Syrian war surpassed 40,000 while 6.6 million fled the country. The US government shielded war criminals and connived at their crimes. On Nov 19, 2019, Rupert Colville, spokesperson for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, expressed the office’s concern over the US presidential pardons for three US service members who were accused of war crimes. These three cases involved serious violations of international humanitarian law, including the “shooting of a group of civilians and execution of a captured member of an armed group,” Rupert said.
霸凌行径威胁国际机构。2018年9月和2019年3月,美国前国家安全顾问博尔顿和国务卿蓬佩奥分别发出威胁,称如果国际刑事法院调查美国及其盟国的人员,美方将对“直接负责调查”的人员采取禁止入境、冻结资产等报复措施,甚至包括对国际刑事法院进行经济制裁。联合国专家称“这些威胁构成了对国际刑事法院独立性的不正当干涉,可能妨碍国际刑事法院法官、检察官和工作人员履行其专业职责的能力”。联合国专家要求美国必须停止对国际刑事法院的威胁。此前,国际刑事法院的检察官曾向法官申请调查阿富汗战争中交战各方涉嫌犯下的战争罪行,美国军人和情报人员涉嫌在阿富汗和其他多处地点对美方所关押的人员施加“折磨、虐待、侵犯个人尊严、强奸和性暴力”。美国法律人士詹姆斯·戈德斯通评论说,美国政府高官的言论表明,美国政府“只有在符合美国利益时”,才把国际法当一回事。
Bullying actions threatened international institutions. John Bolton, former US national security adviser, and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, warned in September 2018 and in March 2019 respectively that if the International Criminal Court (ICC) went ahead with investigating personnel from the United States and its allies, the United States would impose retaliatory measures against the personnel that were directly responsible for the investigations such as a ban on their entry to the United States, fund freeze and even economic sanctions on the ICC. “These threats constitute improper interference with the independence of the ICC and could hinder the ability of ICC judges, prosecutors, and staff to carry out their professional duties,” according to UN experts, who insisted that the United States stop threatening the ICC. Previously, ICC prosecutors applied to judges for an investigation into alleged war crimes by all the warring parties in the Afghanistan war. Some US servicemen and intelligence officers were suspected of "torture, cruel treatment, outrages upon personal dignity, rape and sexual abuse" toward detainees in Afghanistan and other places. According to James Goldston, a law expert, the US officials’ remarks had made it clear that the US government only took the international law seriously when it was in the interest of the United States.
- 延伸阅读:小词详解 | impose
单方面制裁严重侵犯他国人权。联合国网站2019年11月7日报道,联合国大会连续28年以压倒性多数通过决议,呼吁美国结束对古巴的经济、商业和金融禁运。联合国2019年5月28日发布的题为《必须终止美利坚合众国对古巴的经济、商业和金融封锁》的秘书长报告指出,美国对古巴长达近60年的经济、商业和金融封锁,是对全体古巴人民人权的大规模、系统性公然侵犯。美国政府应该遵守联合国大会通过的决议,无条件终止对古巴的封锁政策。联合国网站2019年8月8日报道,联合国人权事务高级专员米歇尔·巴切莱特发表声明指出,美国对委内瑞拉实施的单方面制裁,可能最终剥夺该国人民的基本人权,包括其经济权利以及粮食权、健康权。
Unilateral sanctions grossly infringed on human rights in other countries. According to a report on the UN website on Nov 7, 2019, for the 28th consecutive year, the UN General Assembly had adopted a resolution calling for an end to the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States against Cuba. According to a report by the United Nations on May 28, 2019 titled “Necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States of America against Cuba,” the economic and commercial embargo in almost six decades was a massive, flagrant and systematic violation of the human rights of all Cubans. The report said it is imperative that the government of the United States comply with the resolutions adopted by the international community in the General Assembly and unconditionally end its embargo policy against Cuba. In a statement published by the UN website on Aug 8, 2019, High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet pointed out that the unilateral sanctions imposed by the United States on Venezuela would have far-reaching implications on the rights to health and to food in a country where there were already serious shortages of essential goods.
拒绝承担国际义务。近年来,美国出于一己之私,相继退出了联合国人权理事会、联合国教科文组织、全球移民协议等多边机制,成为国际治理体系的规则破坏者和麻烦制造者。美国有线电视新闻网2019年11月4日报道,美国向联合国提交了撤回的正式通知,宣布正式退出《巴黎气候协定》。该举措向世界传递的信息是:尽管气候变化的破坏性影响日益显著,美国将不会承担应对全球变暖危机的任何国际责任。
The United States refused to fulfill its international obligations. In recent years, the United States withdrew from multilateral mechanisms out of its own interest, including the UN Human Rights Council, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, and the UN Global Compact on Migration, breaking rules and making troubles to the international governance system. CNN reported on its website on Nov 4, 2019 that the United States submitted formal notification of its withdrawal from the Paris climate accord. It sent a powerful message to the rest of the world that “as the damaging impacts of climate change become more apparent, the United States ... will not be a part of the international charge to solve the crisis,” the report said.
知者自知,明者自明。长期以来,美国一边自欺欺人标榜自己是所谓的“人权楷模”,一边肆无忌惮在人权问题上玩弄双重标准,将人权作为维护自身霸权的工具,合则用之,不合则弃。事实胜于雄辩。今日之美国,不仅国内人权问题缠身、痼疾难除,而且在全球事务中恣意妄为,践踏他国人权,导致生灵涂炭。美国这种损人害己的行径严重违背国际道义和人类良知,为一切善良和正义的人们所不齿。我们奉劝美国当局,还是收敛一下自己的傲慢与偏见吧!切实正视、检视自身存在的严重人权问题,并采取措施加以改进,而不是对别的国家指手画脚、说三道四。
People have discerning eyes. The United States has long been deceitfully touting itself as a so-called “role model” for upholding human rights, while flagrantly playing with double standards on human rights issues. Human rights, viewed by the United States as a tool to maintain its hegemony, have been championed or violated by it according to its own needs. Actions speak louder than words. The United States, a country preoccupied with human rights problems at home, unscrupulously tramples on the human rights of people in other countries, resulting in untold sufferings. Such hurtful acts are a grave violation of international morality and human conscience and are despised by all people who hold on to kindness and justice. We advise the US authorities to restrain their arrogance and prejudice, make a clear-eyed examination of the United States' own human rights problems and fix them, instead of pointing fingers at other countries and making irresponsible remarks.