The US State Department pledges to defend human rights in the world, especially in Syria
In the 45th annual report on human rights practices, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken pledged that the United States would speak out publicly about human rights inside and outside America and would turn a page on the policy of the previous administration of Donald Trump.
Blinken said at a press conference, “Defending human rights everywhere is in America’s interest, and the Biden administration will stand against human rights violations wherever they occur, regardless of whether the perpetrators are enemies or accomplices.”
Blinken stressed that human rights, transparency and accountability “are at the forefront of the foreign policy of the United States,” saying, “We appreciate the work that lies ahead, and we expect all countries to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms,” according to what he posted on his Twitter account.
In the statement, Blinken expressed his concern about the violations taking place around the world, including the violations of the Assad regime in the form of executions, enforced disappearances and torture committed in prisons and detention centers, in addition to the ongoing attacks on schools, markets and hospitals in Syria.
In the statement, he recalled the most recent of those attacks that took place only last week, when the Assad regime killed seven people, including two children, in a raid on the “Atareb” hospital, west of Aleppo.
He also condemned the attacks on and imprisonment of opposition politicians, anti-corruption activists and independent journalists, in places such as Russia, Uganda and Venezuela.
Biden had earlier lifted the secrecy of US intelligence information that found that the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, authorized the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
According to the latest report by the “Syrian Network for Human Rights”, the number of civilians killed in Syria during the ten years in the Syrian revolution reached 227,413 civilians, including 14,506 people who were killed under torture.
The report, issued on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the revolutionary launch in Syria calling for the overthrow of the Assad regime, stated that the number of detainees and forcibly disappeared persons reached 149,361, including about five thousand children and more than nine thousand women, blaming the Assad regime for 88% of the total number of detainees.
The Assad regime forces have launched about 217 chemical attacks since December 2012, in various Syrian governorates, killing about one thousand and 510 people, and injuring 11,212 others.
