This article was originally published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and is reprinted with permission.
Russia has continued to show blatant disregard for human rights both in its unprovoked war against Ukraine and in the treatment of its own citizens over the past year, the U.S. State Department has said in its latest annual report on human rights around the globe, which also highlights the abuses committed by Iran’s theocratic regime and the Taliban’s mistreatment of Afghans — especially its discrimination against women and girls.
Russian troops continued to commit numerous abuses and atrocities, some amounting to war crimes, the report says, highlighting the issuance by the International Criminal Court of arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and his children’s rights commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova, for their role in the forced deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia.
“There were credible reports of summary execution, torture, rape, and attacks killing and injuring civilians and damaging or destroying civilian infrastructure by Russia’s forces in Ukraine, as well as war crimes, including those involving forced deportation or transfer of civilians, and the forced placement in foster care or adoption of Ukrainian children,” the report notes.
At home, Russian authorities continued to step up the pressure on dissent and independent expression, imprisoning political opponents and anti-war protesters, clamping down on the media, prosecuting numerous people for expressing their opinions online, and forcibly closing down nongovernmental organizations.
More moves were made to persecute opposition politicians such as the sentencing of Vladimir Kara-Murza to 25 years in prison on charges including treason and the slapping of an extra 19 years for “extremism” on the already imprisoned Aleksei Navalny, who subsequently died under suspicious circumstances in February in a penitentiary in Russia’s Arctic region.
“Tragically, as we saw with Aleksei Navalny’s unjust imprisonment in a Russian penal colony, incarceration can come with horrific conditions — with abuse, even death,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on April 22 while presenting the report.
The report also highlights a multitude of other human rights abuses committed by Russian authorities on Russia’s territory and abroad, such as, but not limited to, arbitrary or unlawful killings, including extrajudicial killings; enforced disappearances; pervasive torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment by the government; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; arbitrary arrest or detention; and serious problems with the independence of the judiciary.
Harsh Punishments Meted Out In Iran
Brutal human rights abuses continue to take place and even worsen in Iran, where women and members of marginalized communities bear the brunt of the regime’s human rights violations and abuses, the report says, highlighting the harsh punishment meted out to prisoners, including executions, for bogus or unjust reasons.
“Women continued to face discrimination, including through enhanced means for enforcing the mandatory dress code, which led to acts of civil disobedience,” the report says, adding that many people have reportedly disappeared during extended protests that were triggered by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of morality police in September 2022.
The number of executions was up by more than one-third last year compared to 2022, with 798 people being put to death, some of them political dissidents.
“The government often charged political dissidents with vague crimes, some of which carried the death penalty, such as ‘antirevolutionary behavior,’ ‘corruption on earth,’ ‘siding with global arrogance,’ ‘waging war against God,’ and ‘crimes against Islam,'” the report notes.
The Iranian regime is also guilty of serious violations outside its borders, which include enabling abuses by terrorist groups throughout the region by the Syrian government, Iran-aligned militia groups in Iraq, and Yemeni Huthi militants, as well as the unlawful recruitment or use of child soldiers, the document said.
Systemic Mistreatment, Discrimination In Afghanistan
In Afghanistan, the Taliban has resorted to systemic mistreatment of and discrimination against Afghanistan’s women and girls since it returned to power in August 2021 following the hasty withdrawal of U.S.-led forces.
“In Afghanistan, the Taliban have limited work opportunities for women, shuttered institutions found educating girls, and increasing floggings for women and men accused of, quote, ‘immoral behavior,’ end quote,” Blinken said.
The report says Taliban authorities have issued more than 50 pieces of legislation “that effectively erase women from public life.”
The Taliban authorities have shown continuous and widespread “disregard for the rule of law and official impunity for those responsible for human rights abuses,” the document says, adding that both the Taliban and their current arch-foe, the Islamic State group, have been using child soldiers.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid on April 23 pushed back against the criticism, emphasizing the Taliban’s commitment to upholding Shari’a law, which he argued defines and guarantees the rights of Afghan citizens based on their wishes.
“The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has a Shari’a and Islamic obligation to give the rights of its citizens,” Mujahid said on state-controlled RTA Radio. “When America or other Western countries talk about rights, they should not impose Western culture on other countries. What is defined as rights in America may not be the same in Afghanistan.”
Referring to the ongoing war in Gaza that was triggered by an October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas, which has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union, the report notes “serious abuses…by Hamas and Israel.”
It says those abuses include unlawful or widespread civilian deaths and harm, enforced disappearances or abductions, torture, as well as “violence or threats against journalists.”
