We have taken note of the annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2018 published by the US Department of State. As before, the report is noted for a patronising attitude and total disregard for the notions of sovereignty and non-interference in the internal affairs of states, which is a fundamental principle of international law that is sealed in the UN Charter.

The attempt to present this document as an unbiased study allegedly based on an objective analysis of numerous criteria looks unconvincing. The same list of questions offered to all countries is clearly not enough to claim objectivity.

In essence, this report is further evidence that the US position in the field of human rights is based on an open use of double standards depending on whether a country in question complies with Washington’s strategic recommendations or not.

The United States is probably the only leading global power that still labours under the illusion of its own exceptionalism. Washington has usurped the right to set the criteria of truth and to judge, persecute and punish others. These US claims are designed to camouflage its geopolitical and economic interests, its ambition to rule the world and its lack of respect for other countries.

As for the section devoted to Russia, we regret to say that the authors have again failed, or more likely, refused to abandon anti-Russia stereotypes. They again used a traditional list of accusations, which hardly differs from the previous reports, in order to maintain a negative attitude towards Russia. The United States is using pseudo-documentary information and hackneyed anti-Russia banalities and clichés to accuse us of disregard for human rights, harassment of NGOs and human rights activists and “deficient” democracy. Moreover, in addition to these ungrounded accusations, the authors also attempted to blame Russia for the human rights situation in Ukraine.

On the other hand, the report traditionally does not analyse the far from ideal human rights situation in the United States. The authors yet again closed their eyes to the system-wide problems in the United States, such as racism, discrimination against immigrants, the sway of xenophobia and the growing activities of extremist organisations, restrictions on the rights and freedoms under the pretext of combating terrorism, strict regulation and suppression of the media, abuse of power and arbitrariness of the country’s security and law enforcement agencies, which routinely use cruel and inhuman treatment and torture, abduction, large-scale spying on US citizens, as well as grave threats to personal security. Moreover, there is evidence of the United States violating human rights in other countries within the framework of the so-called counterterrorism operations, which has resulted in a large-scale loss of civilian life.

We again urge the US side to redress its own failures in protecting human rights.