Top 8 Countries With Most Horrific Human Rights Records, Abuse, Rape Listed by US State Dept.
The U.S. State Department has released its 2017 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices document, shedding light on various governments around the world, and eight in particular, which it says are committing horrific human rights abuse against their own people.
John J. Sullivan, the acting Secretary of State, introduced the report on Friday in Washington D.C., explaining that it will help America formulate policies to combat global crises.
"This year, we have sharpened the focus of the report to be more responsive to statutory reporting requirements and more focused on government action or inaction with regard to the promotion and protection of human rights," Sullivan began.
"For example, each executive summary includes a paragraph to note the most egregious abuses that occurred in a particular country, including those against women, LGBT persons, persons with disabilities, indigenous persons, and members of religious minorities."
Although the extensive report analyzes abuses from every country and region in the world, Sullivan said that he wanted to focus on eight in particular that have been engaged in some of the worst atrocities.
Syria
Sullivan began his list with Syria, which has been devastated by an ongoing civil war that started in 2011. The U.S. and other Western allies have accused the government of President Bashar al-Assad of using chemical weapons on his own people while fighting rebel groups, which have killed thousands of men, women and children.
"The entire world is aware of the horrendous human rights abuses in Syria, including barrel bombing of civilians, attacks on hospitals, widespread reports of rape and abuse by Syrian government personnel," the acting Secretary of State said.
Myanmar (Burma)
Next, he focused on the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya Muslims in Burma.
"More than 670,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh in recent months. Hundreds of thousands of civilians have been internally displaced. Those responsible for the violations, abuses, and attacks must be held accountable," he pointed out.
North Korea
Third, he turned his attention to North Korea, which he called "one of the most repressive and abusive regimes in the world."
"As the report makes clear, the Kim regime systematically neglects the well-being of its people to underwrite and fund its illicit weapons programs via forced labor, child labor, and the export of North Korean workers," he said.
North Korea has also been listed by persecution watchdog groups such as Open Doors USA as the worst place in the world for Christians, where simply owning a Bible can get one sent to a forced labor camp, or even executed.
Read more about human rights on The Christian Post.