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https://theconversation.com/the-united-states-human-rights-practices-are-taking-a-nosedive-286538>
"In the lead-up to the 2026 midterm elections, how is the U.S. government
performing in terms of human rights? Listening to politicians, it can be
difficult to know.
On one hand, some have pointed to a number of potential human rights abuses
committed by the U.S. government inside and outside its borders in the past two
years.
On the other hand, while marking the United States’ 250th anniversary this
year, President Donald Trump called the country “the home of freedom,” “the
land of liberty” and “the most extraordinary, most exceptional, most incredible
nation ever to exist on the face of the earth.”
“We’re doing better now than we’ve ever done before,” he said.
So which is it?
According to many of the human rights data sources available, the U.S. lags
behind most other high-income democracies – countries that are both members of
the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and classified as
high income by the World Bank. The U.S.’s poor performance spans civil and
political rights, such as the right to be free from torture and the right to
political participation, as well as economic and social rights, including the
rights to health and food.
In fact, the U.S. has been a relatively poor performer across many of these
rights for quite some time, regardless of the political party in power.
Even accounting for the U.S.’s prior poor practices, however, new data from the
Human Rights Measurement Initiative shows that in 2025 the country’s civil and
political rights performance deteriorated even further.
As a human rights scholar who has been measuring human rights practices for 20
years – and as one of HRMI’s co-founders – I believe this data raises serious
questions about the United States’ commitment to human rights."
Via Kenny Chaffin.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
