On Wednesday, Chinese state media Xinhua released a report detailing the US’ use of black sites at home and abroad and cited instances of abuse in the facilities.
Report Findings
The report, which aims to “form an understanding that no country is now trampling on human rights more seriously than [the US],” found that the superpower “has carried out arbitrary detention in total disregard of its domestic legal provisions and international treaty obligations, causing serious physical and mental harm to people involved.”
It alleged that the US’ practice of detaining immigrants and persons of interest at its domestic facilities and separating them from their families at the border is “a serious violation” of the UN’s “no use of torture” rule.
The CIA's torture of Al-Qaeda suspect Abu Zubaydah at a black site in Poland two decades ago comes up before the US Supreme Court in a case challenging the government's desire to keep his treatment secret https://t.co/piZYqkxU8K pic.twitter.com/rv3X7QpioF
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) October 5, 2021
Moreover, the report found that immigrants at such facilities “suffer various kinds of physical abuse, including overcrowding, lack of adequate visitation hours, insufficient ventilation, poor food, inadequate water, unclean quarters, malfunctioning toilets, and verbal and physical abuse.”
It cited the case of women in custody in 2020, who “suffered medical abuse and neglect,” and said “many received hysterectomies without proper informed consent or despite their strong resistance.”
Among other shocking revelations, the report highlighted the US’ use of “floating prisons” or “prison boats,” where people are detained and tortured en masse. Similarly, it has also set up “a global network of secret prisons,” which include several “black jails” in Cuba, Afghanistan, Iraq, and other countries.
The report concluded by calling on Washington to reflect upon its “serious human rights violations, stop politicising human rights issues, and stop undermining the human rights of people of other countries.”
China’s Stand
A Chinese woman who is on the run to avoid extradition revealed that she was held at an offshore “black site” in #Dubai that belongs to #China. She claims that she was held alongside two #Uighur detainees. Find out more!https://t.co/C1etrqwJO7 pic.twitter.com/q6dkB8GxaC
— Statecraft (@statecraftdaily) August 17, 2021
Commenting on the report, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning said that the report’s “powerful facts and figures” had “ripped apart the US’s disguise and revealed the truth” that it “abuses arbitrary detention at home and abroad.”
Mao added that the report “exposed the US’ hypocrisy and double standards with regard to democracy and human rights” and showed the world how the US “is in every sense an ‘empire of arbitrary detention’ with the worst human rights violations.”
The report follows similar revelations about China, which allegedly runs its own black sites in Dubai to interrogate Uyghur Muslims.