WASHINGTON — The United States highlighted a deteriorating picture for human rights across the world on Tuesday, calling out China’s repression of Uighurs and Russia’s targeting of political dissidents, among other abuses.
The State Department released reports on the rights situation last year in nearly 200 countries, which are required annually by law and include detailed reports on geopolitical rivals like Russia and China.
“The trend lines on human rights continue to move in the wrong direction,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters.
Blinken said some governments had used the coronavirus crisis as a “pretext to restrict rights and consolidate authoritarian rule….
Keep on reading: US rights report blasts China over Uighurs, Russia’s targeting of Navalny