2020年美国侵犯人权报告
The Report on Human Rights Violations in the United States in 2020
中华人民共和国
国务院新闻办公室
2021年3月
The State Council Information Office of the People’s Republic of China
March 2021
序言
Foreword
“我无法呼吸！”
——乔治·弗洛伊德
“I can’t breathe!”
-- George Floyd
美国国会大厦暴力事件乱象是政治高层散布重重谎言、蔑视民主、煽动仇恨和分裂导致的恶果。
——德国总统施泰因迈尔
“The scenes (the U.S. Capitol building violence) we have seen are the result of lies and more lies, of division and contempt for democracy, of hatred and rabble-rousing -- even from the very highest levels.”
-- German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier
2020年新冠肺炎疫情全球肆虐，对人类生命安全构成重大威胁。病毒没有国界，疫情不分种族，战胜疫情需要世界各国守望相助、团结合作。但一向自认例外和优越的美国，不仅自身疫情失控，而且与之相伴的还有政治失序、种族冲突、社会撕裂，留下了“山巅之城”“民主灯塔”侵犯人权的新纪录。
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc around the world, posing a major threat to human security. The virus respects no borders, nor does the epidemic distinguish between races. To defeat the epidemic requires mutual help, solidarity and cooperation among all countries. However, the United States, which has always considered itself an exception and superior, saw its own epidemic situation go out of control, accompanied by political disorder, inter-ethnic conflicts, and social division. It further added to the human rights violations in the country, the so-called “city upon a hill” and “beacon of democracy.”
——政府应对疫情任性妄为导致失控，酿成人间悲剧。美国人口不足世界总人口的5%，但截至2021年2月底，其新冠肺炎确诊病例数却超过全球总数的25%，死亡病例数占全球总数的近20%，超过50万美国民众失去了宝贵的生命。
-- The epidemic went out of control and turned into a human tragedy due to the government’s reckless response. By the end of February 2021, the United States, home to less than 5 percent of the world’s population, accounted for more than a quarter of the world’s confirmed COVID-19 cases and nearly one-fifth of the global deaths from the disease. More than 500,000 Americans lost their lives due to the virus.
——民主制度失序引发政治乱象，进一步撕裂美国社会。金钱政治扭曲压制民意，选举成为富人阶层“独角戏”，人们对美国民主制度的信心下降至20年来最低点。政治极化日益严重，仇恨政治演变为全国性瘟疫，选后暴乱导致国会沦陷。
-- Disorder in American democratic institutions led to political chaos, further tearing the fabric of society apart. Money-tainted politics distorted and suppressed public opinion, turning elections into a “one-man show” of the wealthy class and people’s confidence in the American democratic system dropped to the lowest level in 20 years. Amid increasing political polarization, hate politics evolved into a national plague, and the Capitol was stormed in post-election riots.
——少数族裔遭受系统性种族歧视，处境艰难。有色人种在美国18岁以下未成年人中的比例约为三分之一，却占被监禁未成年人总数的三分之二。非洲裔新冠肺炎感染率是白人的3倍，死亡率是白人的2倍，被警察杀死的概率是白人的3倍。四分之一亚裔年轻人成为种族欺凌的目标。
-- Ethnic minority groups suffered systematic racial discrimination and were in a difficult situation. People of color made up about one-third of all minors under the age of 18 in the United States but two-thirds of all of the country’s imprisoned minors. African Americans are three times as likely as whites to be infected with the coronavirus, twice as likely to die from COVID-19, and three times as likely to be killed by the police. One in four young Asian Americans has been the target of racial bullying.
——枪支交易和枪击事件创历史新高，人们对社会秩序失去信心。在疫情失控、种族抗议和选举冲突交织影响下，2020年美国的枪支销量高达2300万支，比2019年激增64%，首次购买枪支的人数超过800万人。美国全年共有超过41500人死于枪击，平均每天达110多人，全国共发生592起大规模枪击事件，平均每天超过1.6起。
-- Gun trade and shooting incidents hit a record high, and people’s confidence in social order waned. Americans bought 23 million guns in 2020 against the background of an out-of-control epidemic, accompanied by racial justice protests and election-related conflicts, a surge of 64 percent compared with 2019. First-time gun buyers exceeded 8 million. More than 41,500 people were killed in shooting incidents across the United States in the year, an average of more than 110 a day, and there were 592 mass shootings nationwide, an average of more than 1.6 a day.
——非洲裔男子乔治·弗洛伊德被白人警察残忍跪压致死，引燃美国社会怒火。50个州爆发广泛持续的种族抗议浪潮，政府武力镇压示威民众，1万多人被逮捕，大批新闻记者频遭无端攻击和拘捕。
-- George Floyd, an African American, died after being brutally kneeled on his neck by a white police officer, sparking a national outcry. Widespread protests for racial justice erupted in 50 states. The U.S. government suppressed demonstrators by force, and more than 10,000 people were arrested. A large number of journalists were attacked and arrested for no reason.
——贫富差距加速扩大，底层民众生活苦不堪言。疫情失控导致大规模失业潮，数千万人失去医疗保险，六分之一美国人、四分之一美国儿童面临饥饿威胁。弱势群体成为政府消极应对疫情的最大牺牲品。
-- The gap between the rich and the poor widened, with the people at the bottom of society living in misery. The epidemic led to mass unemployment. Tens of millions of people lost health insurance coverage. One in six Americans and one in four American children were at risk of hunger. Vulnerable groups became the biggest victims of the government’s reckless response to the epidemic.
面对如此糟糕的严重人权问题，美国政府不仅缺乏应有的反思，还对世界上其他国家的人权状况说三道四，充分暴露了其在人权问题上的双重标准及虚伪性。当今时代，人类社会发展正处于一个新的十字路口，面临新的严峻挑战。希望美方能够怀谦卑之心、悯国人疾苦，放下虚伪、霸道、大棒和双重标准，与国际社会相向而行，共同构建人类命运共同体。
The U.S. government, instead of introspecting on its own terrible human rights record, kept making irresponsible remarks on the human rights situation in other countries, exposing its double standards and hypocrisy on human rights. Standing at a new crossroads, mankind is faced with new, grave challenges. It is hoped that the U.S. side will show humility and compassion for the suffering of its own people, drop hypocrisy, bullying, “Big Stick” and double standards, and work with the international community to build a community with a shared future for humanity.
一、疫情严重失控酿成人间悲剧
I. Incompetent Pandemic Containment Leads to Tragic Outcome
美国号称具有世界上最丰富的医疗资源和医疗护理能力，应对新冠肺炎疫情却一片混乱，成为世界上确诊人数和死亡人数最多的国家。
The United States claimed to be most abundant in medical resources and healthcare capacity, yet its response to the COVID-19 pandemic was chaotic, causing it to lead the world in the numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases and related deaths.
应对疫情不力造成惨重后果。根据美国约翰斯·霍普金斯大学统计的数据，截至2021年2月底，美国新冠肺炎确诊病例总数已超过2800万例，死亡病例总数超过50万例。美国人口不足世界总人口的5%，其新冠肺炎确诊病例数却超过全球总数的25%，死亡病例数占全球总数的近20%。美国有线电视新闻网2020年12月20日报道，仅加利福尼亚州就已经报告了184.5万例新冠肺炎确诊病例和22599例死亡病例，相当于每10万人中就有4669人确诊、57人死亡，这还不包括许多未得到诊断的轻症或无症状感染病例。如果美国能够科学应对，事情本不必如此。美国流行病学家、疾病控制与预防中心原负责人威廉·福格认为，“这是一场屠杀”。（注1）
Incompetent pandemic response led to dire consequences. A tally by Johns Hopkins University showed that as of the end of February 2021, the United States has registered more than 28 million confirmed COVID-19 cases, with related deaths exceeding 500,000. With a population of less than 5 percent of the world’s total, the United States accounted for more than 25 percent of all the confirmed cases and nearly 20 percent of the deaths. On Dec. 20, 2020, CNN reported that the state of California alone had reported 1.845 million COVID-19 cases and 22,599 deaths, which translates to roughly 4,669 known cases and 57 deaths for every 100,000 residents. Even these numbers don’t give the whole picture of the state, because many cases, including mild or asymptomatic infections, had not been diagnosed. Had the American authorities taken science-based measures to contain the pandemic, this could have been avoided. But since they had not, the pandemic, as epidemiologist and former head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) William Foege had put it, is “a slaughter” to the United States.
领导人无视科学警告刻意淡化疫情风险。根据《纽约时报》《华盛顿邮报》等媒体复盘的美国疫情时间线，美国特朗普政府一再忽视疫情警告。白宫国家安全委员会在2020年1月初就收到情报，预测病毒将在美国蔓延。时任白宫贸易与制造业政策办公室主任彼得·纳瓦罗在1月29日撰写的一份备忘录中，详细列举了疫情暴发的潜在风险：可能会有多达50万人死亡，并造成数万亿美元的经济损失。时任美国卫生与公众服务部部长亚历克斯·阿扎等卫生官员和医学专家也多次警告疫情在美国暴发的危险。但美国特朗普政府不仅对各种警告置之不理，反而专注于控制信息传播，甚至发布虚假信息误导民众，称新冠肺炎病毒是“大号流感”，感染病毒的风险和死亡率“非常低”，疫情会很快“奇迹般地消失”，导致防控疫情的“黄金窗口期”被白白浪费。《纽约时报》网站2020年4月13日报道指出，时任美国政府领导人宁肯相信自己的直觉也不相信科学，错失时机，断送了大量无辜的生命。
National leaders ignored warnings from experts and downplayed the seriousness of the pandemic. According to the timeline of COVID-19 pandemic in the United States released by media outlets including The New York Times and The Washington Post, the Trump administration had repeatedly ignored alarms regarding the risks of the pandemic. In early January 2020, a National Security Council office had already received intelligence reports predicting the spread of the virus to the United States. In a Jan. 29, 2020 memo, then White House trade adviser Peter Navarro projected that a coronavirus pandemic might lead to as many as half a million deaths and trillions of dollars in economic losses. A number of health officials, including then Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, and medical experts also warned of the possibility of a pandemic in the United States. None of the aforementioned warnings brought the imminent pandemic to the Trump administration’s attention. Instead, the administration focused on controlling the message, and released misleading signals to the public by claiming “the risk of the virus to most Americans was very low,” suggesting that the coronavirus is no worse than the common flu, and stating the virus will “miraculously go away” when the weather gets warmer. Thus, the country lost crucial weeks for pandemic prevention and control. An article published on the website of The New York Times on April 13, 2020 commented that, then American leader’s “preference for following his gut rather than the data cost time, and perhaps lives.”
政府选择不作为导致疫情失控。在美国新冠肺炎死亡病例超过30万人后，加利福尼亚大学洛杉矶分校医学教授戴维·哈耶斯-鲍提斯塔指出，美国其实不应死那么多人，是政府选择了不作为导致悲剧的发生。（注2）哥伦比亚大学疾病研究人员通过模型分析显示，如果美国政府2020年3月13日发布的疫情防控措施能够提前两星期，那么约83%的死亡是可以避免的。（注3）英国医学期刊《柳叶刀》2020年5月17日罕有地发表社论指出，美国政府总是“着迷于”找到快速结束疫情的方式——疫苗、新药，甚至指望病毒会就这么消失了，但事实是只有依赖病毒检测、感染追踪及隔离等基本的公共卫生准则，才可能终结疫情。即便疫情已经在美国大范围蔓延，确诊病例和死亡病例已升至全球第一的情况下，特朗普政府出于政治私利，依然急于重启经济。沃克斯新闻网2020年8月11日评论称，一些州在4、5月份就忙于重启，使得病毒传播的重灾区从最初的纽约地区向南部、西部扩散，并最终扩散到全国其他地区。尽管许多医学研究已经证实佩戴口罩可以有效防止感染病毒，但时任美国政府领导人和一些州政府官员却长期拒绝实施强制口罩令。
Government inaction led to uncontrolled pandemic spread. “There’s no need for that many to have died. We chose, as a country, to take our foot off the gas pedal. We chose to, and that's the tragedy.” So commented David Hayes-Bautista, a professor of medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, after the pandemic death toll hit 300,000 in the United States. Disease modelers with the Columbia University also estimated that, if the United States had begun locking down cities and limiting social contact on March 1, 2020, two weeks earlier than most people started staying home, about 83 percent of the nation’s pandemic-related deaths would have been avoided. An editorial from the website of medical journal The Lancet, published on May 17, 2020, commented that the U.S. government was obsessed with magic bullets -- vaccines, new medicines, or a hope that the virus will simply disappear. At the same time, it noted that only a steadfast reliance on basic public health principles, like testing, tracing, and isolation, would see the emergency brought to an end. Even when the pandemic is spreading in a vast area in the United States, the administration was hasty to restart the economy due to political concerns. According to news website Vox on Aug. 11, 2020, in April and May last year, several states rushed to reopen and caused the virus to shift to the South, West and eventually the rest of the United States. In addition, despite that experts had recommended people wear masks in public, the then American leader and some state officials had been extremely reluctant to issue any decree to make wearing masks mandatory.
疫情防控指挥混乱使得民众无所适从。美国有线电视新闻网2020年5月9日的评论指出，美国应对新冠肺炎疫情混乱不堪，缺乏全国性的指导方针和组织领导，各州只能自行其是，甚至不得不相互竞价争抢医疗物资。时任美国政府领导人与公共卫生机构、医学专家发布的有关疫情防控信息相互抵牾、反复无常。专家们呼吁联邦政府统筹全国病毒检测和医疗物资供应，领导人却让各地政府自己解决；联邦政府刚刚公布分阶段重启计划，领导人却接着呼吁各州加快重启；疾病控制与预防中心强烈建议公众佩戴口罩，领导人却长达几个月坚决拒绝佩戴口罩；更为荒诞的是，领导人竟提出让民众注射消毒剂治疗新冠肺炎。
Chaotic pandemic control and prevention measures caused confusion among the public. An article published by CNN on May 9, 2020 called the U.S. response to the pandemic “consistently inconsistent,” and noted that there were no national guidelines and no organized efforts to reopen the country beyond what measures states had taken. The article also said that in terms of pandemic control and prevention, public health officials say one thing while governors say another and the national leader says something else entirely. In addition, after the experts called for federal leadership, the then American leader left it to cities and states to solve national problems with testing and hospital supplies by themselves. When the federal government released a phased plan for reopening, the leader called on states to reopen faster. After the CDC recommended that people wear masks in public, the leader refused to do so for months. Even more ridiculously, the leader at one point advocated injecting bleach as a treatment.
任性自负推卸责任。尽管在疫情应对中昏招迭出，时任美国政府领导人却拒绝承认有任何失误，反而用各种说辞自我美化、推脱责任，罔顾事实将美国确诊病例全球居首归因于做了更多的核酸检测，声称自己对病毒检测系统的混乱低效和死亡率的不断攀升“没有任何责任”。而白宫顾问、美国国家过敏症和传染病研究所所长安东尼·福奇指出，数据不会说谎，美国确实是世界上新冠肺炎疫情最严重的国家。（注4）
National leaders shirked their responsibility out of arrogance. Despite one ludicrous idea after another, the then American leader refused to admit any fault. Instead, the leader invented all sorts of excuses to gloss over his mistakes while shirking from responsibilities. For one, the then leader insisted that the U.S. leads the world in COVID-19 cases because it tested more than any other country in the world. When asked about testing problems and rising deaths, the leader claimed he “doesn’t take responsibility at all.” However, White House adviser and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Anthony Fauci admitted that the numbers didn’t lie and the United States had the worst coronavirus outbreak in the world.
老年人成为政府抗疫不力的“牺牲品”。疫情中原本就面临更大风险的老年人群体，在混乱不堪的疫情防控体系中被进一步边缘化，面临着生命贬值、尊严贬损。2020年3月23日和4月20日，得克萨斯州副州长丹·帕特里克在接受福克斯新闻网采访时两次表示，“宁愿死也不愿看到公共卫生措施损害美国经济”。《圣迭戈工会论坛报》网站2020年8月18日报道，根据新冠肺炎病毒追踪项目公布的数据，养老院等长期护理机构中的居民占美国人口的比例不到1%，占新冠肺炎死亡人数的比例却超过40%。《华盛顿邮报》2020年5月9日的评论称，美国的抗疫行动成了“一场国家批准的屠杀”，它故意牺牲老年人、工人、非洲裔和拉美裔人口。
Senior citizens fell victims to the government’s incompetent response to COVID-19. Senior citizens are a group more susceptible to the pandemic, yet they have been further marginalized in the U.S. pandemic prevention and control chaos, with their lives becoming valueless and their dignity trampled upon. On March 23 and April 20, 2020, Dan Patrick, the lieutenant governor of Texas, told Fox News that he would rather die than see public health measures damage the U.S. economy and there are more important things than living. Furthermore, an Aug. 18, 2020 report published on The San Diego Union-Tribune website found that residents in long-term care facilities account for less than 1 percent of the U.S. population but more than 40 percent of COVID-19 deaths. A May 9, 2020 article from The Washington Post website called the U.S. pandemic control efforts “state-sanctioned killing,” where “the old, factory workers, and black and Hispanic Americans” were deliberately sacrificed.
贫困人口面临更严重感染威胁。研究发现，美国贫富差距和新冠肺炎疫情导致的死亡率密切相关。纽约州的基尼系数最高，同时其死亡人数也最高。（注5）英国《卫报》网站2020年3月21日报道，疫情期间美国富人优先进行新冠病毒检测，而低收入从业群体大多无法居家办公且不享有带薪病假，不得不为了维持生活使自己面临更大的感染风险。《洛杉矶时报》网站2020年5月8日报道，公共卫生官员指出，洛杉矶县低收入社区居民死于新冠肺炎的人数是其邻近富裕社区的3倍。盖洛普公司的一项调查显示，七分之一的美国成年人表示，如果自己或家庭成员出现新冠肺炎相关症状，将因为担心负担不起治疗费用放弃治疗。联合国极端贫困与人权问题特别报告员菲利普·奥尔斯顿指出，美国穷人正受到新冠肺炎病毒最严重的打击，更容易感染病毒，死亡率更高，而一个混乱的、注重企业利润的政府应对措施未能充分顾及他们的利益。
The poor faced greater threat of infection. Researchers found that the Gini Index, an economic barometer that ranks income inequality from 0 (total equality) to 1 (total inequality), was a strong predictor of COVID-19 deaths. New York State, which had one of the highest Gini Index numbers also had the highest number of fatalities in the nation by a margin. The Guardian website reported on March 21, 2020 that in the wake of the epidemic, it’s the wealthy and powerful first get coronavirus tests, while low-paid workers, most of whom have no paid sick leave and can’t do their work from home, put themselves at greater risk of contracting the virus in order to earn a living. Public health officials said, in Los Angeles County, residents of low-income communities are three times more likely to die of COVID-19 than those in wealthier neighborhoods, according to a report published on the Los Angeles Times website on May 8, 2020. A Gallup survey revealed that one in seven American adults said that if they or their family members developed symptoms related to COVID-19, they would probably give up medical treatment because they were worried that they could not afford the costs. The United Nations Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Philip Alston, also pointed out that the poor in the United States were being hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic. Low-income and poor people face far higher risks from the coronavirus due to chronic neglect and discrimination, and a muddled, corporate-driven federal response has failed them, he observed.
残障人士和无家可归者处境维艰。非营利组织“公平健康”2020年11月发布的一项研究显示，与普通人群相比，有智力和发育障碍的人死于新冠肺炎的可能性要高出3倍。（注6）《洛杉矶时报》网站2020年5月14日报道，疫情带来的经济冲击使得美国无家可归者人数暴涨45%。无家可归者中有很多年迈的老人和残障人士，他们原本身体健康状况就不佳，生活和卫生条件恶劣，是病毒的易感群体。疫情期间，流落街头的无家可归者遭到严厉驱逐，被迫住进临时收容所。路透社网站2020年4月23日报道，美国各地的无家可归者收容所因人员拥挤难以保持社交距离，使得病毒极易传播。《纽约时报》网站2020年4月13日报道称，无家可归者收容所成为纽约市疫情的“定时炸弹”，超过1.7万人住在为单身成年人准备的集中收容所中，睡在床上几乎可以手碰手。《波士顿环球报》网站2020年5月4日报道，波士顿市无家可归者确诊感染新冠病毒的人数占当地该群体已接受检测人口的三分之一。
The handicapped and the homeless were in dire straits. A study released in November 2020 by the nonprofit FAIR Health found that people with intellectual and developmental disabilities are three times more likely to die of COVID-19, compared to the general population. The website of the Los Angeles Times reported on May 14, 2020 that with the coronavirus-induced shock to the economy crippling businesses of all sizes and leaving millions of Americans out of work, homelessness in the United States could grow as much as 45 percent in a year. Many of the homeless Americans are elderly or disabled people. Given their originally poor physical health and bad living and hygienic conditions, they are susceptible to the virus. During the pandemic, the homeless were evicted and pushed into makeshift shelters. The website of Reuters reported on April 23, 2020 that the crowded shelters across the United States made it impossible for the homeless who lived there to maintain social distance, which made it easier for the virus to spread. The New York Times website reported on April 13, 2020 that in the New York City, a crisis has taken hold in homeless shelters, as more than 17,000 men and women are sleeping in group or “congregate” shelters for single adults, with beds close enough for people sleeping in them to hold hands. The Boston Globe website reported on May 4, 2020 that, about one-third of the homeless people who were tested have tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
监狱疫情暴发威胁囚犯生命健康。美国广播公司网站2020年12月19日报道，美国至少已有27.5万名囚犯感染新冠肺炎，1700多名感染者死亡，监狱系统的感染率大大高于周边社区。根据美联社和非营利新闻组织“马歇尔项目”共同收集的数据，在州和联邦监狱管理局管理的监狱中，每5名囚犯中就有1人感染新冠肺炎，是普通人感染率的4倍多；其中24个州监狱的感染率更高，堪萨斯州一半囚犯感染，是该州总人口感染率的8倍；阿肯色州每7名囚犯中就有4人感染。
Outbreak in jails threatened lives of inmates. ABC News reported on Dec. 19, 2020 that at least 275,000 prisoners have been infected, of whom more than 1,700 have died, and nearly every prison system in the country has seen infection rates significantly higher than the communities around them. One of every five prisoners in facilities run by the federal Bureau of Prisons has had coronavirus, according to data collected by The Associated Press and The Marshall Project, a nonprofit news organization covering the criminal justice system. They also found that 24 state prison systems have had even higher infection rates. Half of the prisoners in Kansas have been infected with COVID-19 — eight times the rate of cases among the state’s overall population. In Arkansas, four of every seven have had the virus.
疫情失控给美国人心理带来严重阴影。特朗普政府应对疫情不力对美国人造成的负面影响超过病毒本身，人们感到压力重重、孤立无援。（注7）美国疾病控制与预防中心2020年8月14日公布的一项研究显示，2020年4月至6月，40.9%的成年受访者表示出现心理健康问题，30.9%的成年受访者表示患有焦虑或抑郁症，而这些数字只是冰山一角。与此同时，13%的成年受访者表示开始或增加使用药物，11%的成年受访者认真考虑过自杀。2020年6月发布的一项研究显示，疫情期间美国自杀救助热线电话接听数量上升了47%，某些危机干预热线电话接听数量暴涨300%。（注8）
Out-of-control pandemic brought Americans psychological pressure. The Trump administration’s reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic has negatively affected Americans more than the virus itself, which has left people stressed and isolated. In a study published by the CDC on Aug. 14, 2020, due to stay-at-home orders, 40.9 percent of adults reported at least one adverse mental or behavioral health condition, 30.9 percent reported either anxiety or depression and those numbers are just the tip of the iceberg. The same CDC study showed that 13 percent of people surveyed by the CDC during the same time said that they started or increased their substance use and 11 percent seriously considered suicide. A separate study released in June 2020 showed calls to suicide hotlines went up 47 percent nationwide during the COVID-19 pandemic with some crisis lines experiencing a 300-percent increase.
二、美式民主失序引发政治乱象
II. American Democracy Disorder Triggers Political Chaos
美国自诩为民主制度的“样板”，动辄打着所谓维护民主、自由、人权的旗号对许多国家指手画脚、肆意打压。然而，金钱政治痼疾深重，民意操纵与谎言泛滥，美式民主不仅难以弥合日益极化的政治分歧，反而进一步加剧了美国社会的撕裂，导致美国民众的公民权利和政治权利有名无实。
Touting itself as the beacon of democracy, the United States has wantonly leveled criticism against and oppressed many other countries under the guise of upholding democracy, freedom and human rights. However, the U.S. society has been plagued by deep-rooted money politics, unchecked public opinion manipulation and rampant lies, and American democracy has further aggravated social division instead of bridging the increasingly polarized political differences. As a result, the American people enjoy their civil and political rights in name only.
金钱支配下的政治选举实质上成为“钱决”。金钱是美国政治的驱动力。美国的金钱政治扭曲了民意，把选举搞成了富人阶层的“独角戏”。2020年美国总统和国会选举的总支出高达140亿美元，是2016年的2倍多。其中，总统选举花费再创历史纪录，达到66亿美元；国会选举花费超过70亿美元。美国消费者新闻与商业频道网站2020年11月1日报道，在2020年的选举周期中，排在前10位的捐款者捐款总额超过6.4亿美元。除公开登记的选举捐款外，大量秘密资金和“黑钱”充斥着2020年的美国大选。根据纽约大学布伦南司法研究中心的分析，匿名捐款的“黑钱”组织通过广告支出和向各类超级政治行动委员会提供的捐款创了新的纪录，共为2020年的选举投入7.5亿多美元。（注9）
Influence of money in electoral politics essentially makes it a money-led election. Money is the driving force of American politics. America’s money politics has distorted public opinion, turning elections into a “one-man show” for the rich. The amount spent on the 2020 U.S. presidential and congressional campaigns hit nearly 14 billion U.S. dollars, more than double what was spent in the 2016 election. The presidential campaign saw a record high of 6.6 billion U.S. dollars in total spending, while congressional races finished with over 7 billion U.S. dollars. According to a Nov. 1, 2020 report on the website of CNBC, the top 10 donors in the 2020 U.S. election cycle contributed over 640 million U.S. dollars. In addition to publicly registered election donations, a large amount of secret funds and dark money flooded the 2020 U.S. elections. According to an analysis by the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University, dark money groups poured more than 750 million U.S. dollars into 2020 elections through ad spending and record-breaking contributions to political committees such as super political action committees.
民众对选举的信任陷入危机。盖洛普公司网站2020年10月8日公布的调查显示，对总统选举非常有信心的受访者比例仅有19%，创下自2004年以来该调查的最低纪录。《华尔街日报》网站2020年11月9日评论称，在2020年的选举中，人们对美国民主制度的信心下降至20年来最低点。
Public trust in U.S. elections was in crisis. According to Gallup’s figures released on Oct. 8, 2020, only 19 percent of Americans say they are “very confident” about the accuracy of the presidential election, the lowest Gallup has recorded in its trend dating back to 2004. According to a commentary carried by the Wall Street Journal on Nov. 9, 2020, the 2020 U.S. election can be seen as the culmination of a two-decade period of decline in faith in the basic building blocks of democracy.
政治极化现象日益严重。共和党和民主党之间的对立逐渐从政策之争变为身份之争，政治部落属性日趋明显，两党在诸多重大公共事项上僵持不下、无所作为，使国家治理陷入低效无能的泥淖。政客自甘堕落争权夺利，相互倾轧、攻讦缠斗成为美国的基本政治生态，各种丑陋攻击和低俗抹黑竞相上演。支持不同党派的选民在极端政客的挑唆煽动之下势不两立，情绪日趋狂热、沟通愈发艰难，仇恨政治演变为一场全国性的瘟疫，成为社会持续动荡撕裂的根源。皮尤研究中心网站2020年11月13日报道，美国社会出现了不同寻常的政治分裂。民主党人和共和党人之间在经济、种族、气候变化、执法、国际参与以及其他一系列问题上的分歧日益鲜明。2020年的总统选举使这些根深蒂固的分歧进一步深化。选举前一个月，两党候选人的支持者中有约80%的登记选民表示，他们与另一方的分歧不仅在于政治和政策上的不同，更在于核心价值观上的对立，约90%的选民担心对方的胜选会对美国造成“持久伤害”。
Political polarization grew. Disagreement between Democrats and Republicans has gradually changed from policy differences to identity battles with increasingly obvious political tribalism. The two parties have ended in deadlocks on many major public issues, thus leading to inefficient and incompetent state governance. Power plays between rival politicians in dogfights have become the hallmark of American politics, which saw a variety of shows featuring ugly attacks and vulgar smears. Voters supporting different parties are at loggerheads under the instigation of extreme politicians. Dominated by growing political fanaticism, the two camps are increasingly harder to talk to each other. Hate politics raged through the country and became the root cause of constant social unrest and division. According to a Nov. 13, 2020 report by Pew Research Center, America is exceptional in the nature of its political divide. There has been an increasingly stark disagreement between Democrats and Republicans on economy, racial justice, climate change, law enforcement, international engagement and a long list of other issues. The 2020 presidential election exacerbated these deep-seated divides. A month before the election, roughly 80 percent of the registered voters in both camps said their differences with the other side were about more than just politics and policies, but also about core American values, and about 90 percent in both camps worried that a victory by the other would lead to “lasting harm” to the United States.
权力制衡异化为否决政治。两党分裂强化了美国体制中固有的否决现象，权力分割和权力制衡变异为相互否决。两党恶斗不止，使国会陷入瘫痪，决策陷入僵局。在疫情暴发失控的危机局面下，两党不仅在诸多议题上一再缠斗，还把应对疫情冲击的第二轮纾困法案当作竞选工具，为了捞取选票拉锯扯皮拒不妥协，导致数百万底层民众生计艰难。否决政治造成国会和行政系统、联邦和州的尖锐对立。疫情期间，共和党总统和民主党占多数的众议院矛盾不断，联邦政府与民主党执政的“蓝州”冲突频发，不仅同各州抢夺抗疫物资，还屡屡和“蓝州”执行截然相反的疫情应对政策，导致民众无所适从。马萨诸塞州紧急购买的300万个N95口罩在运抵纽约港后竟被联邦政府拦截。
Power checks and balances have mutated into veto politics. The bipartisan divides intensified the veto practices inherent in the American system. The separation, check and balance of power have turned into vetoing each other. The two parties engaged in ferocious battles, paralyzing the Congress and deadlocking the decision-making. While the outbreak of COVID-19 went out of control, the two parties not only brawled with each other on multiple issues, but also took the bill for the second round of COVID-19 relief measures as their campaigning tool for election. The two parties filibustered and stalled each other for votes, leaving millions of grassroots people in livelihood predicament. The veto politics has caused acute confrontations between the Congress and the administrative system, as well as between the federal and state authorities. During the COVID-19 pandemic, frequent contradictions have taken place between the Republican president and the Democrats-dominated House of Representatives, and between the federal government and Democratic “blue states.” The federal government competed with the states in the scramble for anti-virus supplies, and was often at odds with the “blue states” in epidemic response policies, thus causing people to be at a loss. Massachusetts once arranged to buy 3 million N95 masks for urgent needs, but federal authorities seized them at the Port of New York.
选后暴乱凸显美式民主危机。选举没有解决美国政治分歧，反而使对立白热化。英国《卫报》网站2020年11月4日指出，无论谁赢得选举，美国仍然是一个严重分裂的国家，愤怒和仇恨将成为政治遗产。败选的共和党阵营指控大选存在多项欺诈，不接受总统选举结果，在密歇根州、威斯康星州、宾夕法尼亚州和佐治亚州等提出诉讼，并对当地选举官员施压和恐吓，要求重新计票以推翻选举结果。特朗普一再坚称绝不接受选举结果，并号召支持者前往华盛顿抗议国会确认选举结果，选举争议最终演变为暴乱。
The post-election riots highlighted the American democracy crisis. The election did not resolve the political differences in the United States, but heated up social confrontation. A Nov. 4, 2020 report on the website of the Guardian noted that whoever won the 2020 election, America would remain a country bitterly divided and the politics of anger and hatred would be the legacy. Claiming that the election was tainted by fraud, the defeated Republican camp refused to accept the presidential election results and filed lawsuits in Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Georgia, calling for a recount of ballots to overturn the election by pressuring and intimidating local election officials. Donald Trump repeatedly insisted that he would never accept the election defeat, calling on his supporters to protest against the congressional certification of the election result in Washington, D.C. The election dispute eventually turned into riots.
2021年1月6日，拒绝接受选举结果的上万名示威者在华盛顿举行“拯救美国”示威集会，大批示威者随后越过警卫线翻墙闯入国会大厦，与警察发生激烈肢体冲突。警察发射催泪弹并开枪射击，国会议员们戴着防护面罩慌忙躲避，示威者占领会场后肆意妄为。事件造成数人死亡，导致正在认证选举结果的参众两院联席会议被迫中断，华盛顿特区相继进入宵禁和紧急状态。美国国会警察局局长史蒂文·桑德2021年1月7日称，成千上万参与暴力骚乱的人用金属管、化学刺激物和其他武器袭击警察，华盛顿特区和国会大厦共有50多名警察受伤。警察总计逮捕了100多人。2021年1月7日，联合国人权事务高级专员米歇尔·巴切莱特发表声明称，该事件清楚地表明了政治领导人持续、蓄意歪曲事实以及煽动暴力和仇恨所造成的破坏性影响。
On Jan. 6, 2021, tens of thousands of protesters who refused to accept the election defeat staged a “Save America” rally in Washington, D.C. A large number of protesters breached security and stormed into the Capitol building, where they tussled with police officers. Members of the U.S. Congress were hurriedly evacuated wearing their gas masks, as the police fired tear gas and shot to disperse the protesters. Protesters acted recklessly after occupying the venue. The riots resulted in multiple injuries and an interruption of the congressional certification of the electoral victory. Washington, D.C. imposed curfew and entered a state of emergency. On Jan. 7, 2021, U.S. Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund said that thousands of individuals involved in violent riotous actions attacked officers with metal pipes, chemical irritants and other weapons, injuring more than 50 police officers. The police arrested more than 100 people in total. On Jan. 7, 2021, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said in a statement that the attack on the U.S. Capitol demonstrated clearly the destructive impact of sustained, deliberate distortion of facts, and incitement to violence and hatred by political leaders.
华盛顿上演的政治乱象令世界震惊。美国媒体称这是美国现代史上权力移交第一次“在华盛顿权力走廊内演变成一场实体对抗”，“暴力、混乱和破坏动摇了美国民主的核心”，是“对美国民主灯塔形象的一记重击”。法国《费加罗报》评论称，这一暴力事件激化了美国社会不同阵营间的怨恨和不信任，使美国陷入新的政治危机。《外交政策》评论称，美国已经变成了美国领导人经常谴责的样子：无法在权力交接过程中避免暴力和流血破坏。黎巴嫩外交官穆罕默德·萨法在社交媒体发表评论称：“如果美国看到美国正对美国做的事，美国肯定会入侵美国，以从美国暴政的手中解放美国。”
The political chaos in Washington shocked the world. American media called it the first time in modern American history that the power transfer has turned into a real combat in the Washington corridor of power. They blamed that violence, chaos and vandalism had shaken the American democracy to the core, dealing a heavy blow to America’s image as a democratic beacon. The French daily Le Figaro commented that the violent incident stoked up the resentment and distrust among different camps in American society, plunging America into an unknown situation. The Foreign Policy said in a commentary that the United States has become what its leaders used to condemn: being unable to avoid violence and bloody destruction during transfer of power. Lebanese diplomat Mohamad Safa commented via social media, “If the United States saw what the United States is doing in the United States, the United States would invade the United States to liberate the United States from the tyranny of the United States.”
三、种族歧视恶化少数族裔处境
III. Ethnic minorities devastated by racial discrimination
在美国，种族主义是全面性、系统性、持续性的存在。美国前总统奥巴马对这一现状无奈地表示：“因种族而被区别对待是数百万美国人悲剧性的、痛苦的、愤怒的‘常态’。”2020年6月，联合国人权事务高级专员米歇尔·巴切莱特连发两条媒体声明，强调非洲裔男子弗洛伊德死亡引发的抗议活动不仅凸显了美国警察对有色人种的暴力执法问题，也凸显了美国在卫生、教育、就业等方面的不平等和种族歧视问题。如果美国想要结束种族主义和暴力的悲惨历史，就必须予以倾听和解决。6月17日，联合国人权理事会第43次会议召开种族主义问题紧急辩论，这是人权理事会历史上首次就美国人权问题召开紧急会议。11月9日，美国在接受联合国人权理事会第三轮国别人权审查时，因种族歧视问题遭致国际社会严厉批评。联合国消除种族歧视委员会等机构指出，美国的种族主义令人震惊，白人种族主义者、新纳粹分子和三K党成员公然使用种族主义的标语、口号，宣扬白人至上，煽动种族歧视和仇恨；政治人物越来越多地使用分裂性语言，试图将种族、族裔和宗教少数群体边缘化，等同于煽动和助长暴力、不容忍和偏执。联合国当代形式种族主义问题特别报告员滕达伊·阿丘梅认为，对于非洲裔美国人来说，美国的法律体系已经无法解决种族不公与歧视。
In the United States, racism exists in a comprehensive, systematic and continuous manner. Former U.S. President Barack Obama said helplessly that “for millions of Americans, being treated differently on account of race is tragically, painfully, maddeningly ‘normal’.” In June 2020, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet made two consecutive media statements, emphasizing that the protests triggered by the death of George Floyd, an African American, highlighted not only the issue of police brutality against people of color, but also inequality and racial discrimination in health, education, and employment in the United States. The grievances need to be heard and addressed if the country is to move on from its tragic history of racism and violence. On June 17, 2020, the 43rd session of the UN Human Rights Council held an urgent debate on racism. This was the first time in the history of the Human Rights Council that an urgent meeting on the human rights issues of the United States was held. On Nov. 9, 2020, the United States was severely criticized by the international community for racial discrimination when it was in the third cycle of Universal Periodic Review by the United Nations Human Rights Council. The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination of the United Nations and other institutions pointed out that racism in the United States is horrific. The white nationalists, neo-Nazis, and the Ku Klux Klan overtly use racist slogans, chants and salutes to promote white supremacy and incite racial discrimination and hatred. Political figures increasingly use divisive language in attempts to marginalize racial, ethnic and religious minorities, which amounts to inciting and fueling violence, intolerance and bigotry. Tendayi Achiume, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, believes that for black people in the United States, the domestic legal system has utterly failed to acknowledge and confront the racial injustice and discrimination that are so deeply entrenched in law enforcement.
印第安人权利遭受侵犯。美国政府在历史上对印第安人进行过系统性种族清洗和大屠杀，犯下罄竹难书的反人类罪和种族灭绝罪行，美国印第安人今天仍然过着二等公民般的生活，权利饱受践踏。美国许多低收入社区中的印第安人等土著人遭受核废料等有毒环境影响，罹患癌症、心脏病的比率非常高。很多土著人生活在危险废物处置场附近，出生缺陷率畸高。2020年8月5日，联合国危险物质及废料的无害环境管理和处置对人权的影响问题特别报告员根据人权理事会第36/15号决议发布的报告指出，美国土著人面临采掘业、农业和制造业释放或产生的有毒污染物，包括遭受核废料放射性影响，并且采矿废物造成的土壤和铅尘污染对其健康造成的影响远超其他群体。联合国宗教或信仰自由问题特别报告员根据联大74/145号决议编写的报告指出，美国政府未经土著群体同意，或违反其传统土地所有权和集体土地所有权，将印第安“立岩”苏族部落等的土地开放接受投资。联合国适当生活水准权问题特别报告员根据人权理事会第43/14号决议编写的报告指出，少数群体和土著人受新冠肺炎疫情的影响最具破坏性，美国土著人的住院率是非拉美裔白人的5倍，死亡率也远超白人。
Rights of the American Indians were violated. The United States has carried out systematic ethnic cleansing and massacres of Indians in history, and committed countless crimes against humanity and genocides. American Indians still live a life like a second-class citizen and their rights have been trampled over. Many indigenous peoples, such as the American Indians, who live in low-income communities in the United States, suffer from higher rates of cancer and heart diseases from toxic radioactive environments. Many indigenous people live near hazardous waste disposal sites and have an abnormally high rate of birth defects. On Aug. 5, 2020, the report of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the implications for human rights of the environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes, submitted pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 36/15, decried the situation of indigenous peoples in the United States. They are exposed to toxic pollutants, including nuclear waste, released or produced by extractive industries, agriculture and manufacturing. The soil and lead dust pollution from mining waste poses a more significant health threat for indigenous peoples in the United States than other groups. The report of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief in accordance with General Assembly resolution 74/145 found out that the United States had opened up the lands of indigenous communities, including the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, to investment without the communities’ consent or in contravention of their customary and collective land ownership. The report of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of living, released in accordance with Human Rights Council resolution 43/14, said that some of the most devastating effects of COVID-19 had been felt by racial and ethnic minorities and indigenous peoples. The hospitalization rate of Native Americans was five times that of non-Hispanic white Americans. The death rate of Native Americans also far exceeded that of white Americans.
对亚裔群体的欺凌加剧。疫情暴发以来，亚裔美国人在公共场合遭受羞辱甚至攻击的事件比比皆是，一些美国政客对此更是有意误导。《纽约时报》网站2020年4月16日指出，“新冠病毒肆虐期间，在美国身为亚裔是一种非常孤独的感觉”。全国广播公司网站2020年9月17日报道，一项针对美国亚裔年轻人的调查显示，在过去一年中，四分之一的美国亚裔年轻人成为种族欺凌目标；在时任美国政府领导人种族主义言论的推波助澜下，近一半受访者对自身所处境遇表示悲观，四分之一的受访者对自己及家人所处的境遇表示恐惧。联合国当代形式种族主义问题特别报告员滕达伊·阿丘梅2020年3月23日和4月21日先后指出，有关国家政客主动发表公开或暗示性的仇外言论，使用别有用心的名称来替代新冠肺炎病毒，这种把特定疾病与某个具体国家或民族相联系的仇外表达不负责任、令人不安。美国政府官员公然煽动、引导和纵容种族歧视，无异于对现代人权观念的悍然羞辱。
Bullying against Asian Americans escalated. Since the pandemic began, the incidents of Asian Americans being humiliated and even assaulted in public have been found everywhere, and some American politicians have misled the public on purpose. “It’s very lonely to be Asians in the United States during the raging pandemic,” said a report published on the website of the New York Times on April 16, 2020. A survey of young Asian Americans showed that in the past year, a quarter of young Asian Americans became targets of racial bullying; fueled by the racist remarks of the then American leader, nearly half of the respondents expressed pessimism about their situation, and a quarter of the respondents expressed fear about the situation of themselves and their families, according to a report published on the website of the National Broadcasting Corporation on Sept. 17, 2020. Tendayi Achiume, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, said on March 23 and April 21, 2020, that politicians of relevant countries took the initiative to make open or suggestive xenophobic remarks, adopting alternative names with ulterior motives for the novel coronavirus. Their remarks that associated a specific disease with a specific country or ethnicity were irresponsible and disturbing, according to the Special Rapporteur. U.S. government officials openly incited, induced, and condoned racial discrimination, which was tantamount to humiliating modern human rights concepts.
仇恨犯罪居高不下凸显种族关系恶化。联邦调查局2020年发布的报告显示，在2019年执法部门报告的8302起单一偏见引起的仇恨犯罪案件中，57.6%涉及种族族裔身份，其中高达48.4%是针对非洲裔，15.8%是针对白人，14.1%是针对拉美裔，4.3%是针对亚裔。在种族仇恨犯罪案件的4930名受害者中，非洲裔多达2391人。《今日美国报》网站2020年5月20日报道，一些美国人将疫情的暴发归咎于亚裔，对亚裔的歧视、骚扰和仇恨犯罪事件越来越多。民权组织“停止仇恨亚裔美国人与太平洋岛居民”的统计数据显示，2020年前7个月，美国共发生2300余起针对亚裔的仇恨犯罪。
The high level of hate crimes highlighted the deterioration of race relations. An FBI report released in 2020 showed that 57.6 percent of the 8,302 single-bias hate crime offenses reported by law enforcement agencies in 2019 were motivated by race/ethnicity/ancestry. Of these offenses, 48.4 percent were motivated by anti-black or African American bias; 15.8 percent stemmed from anti-white bias; 14.1 percent were classified as anti-Hispanic or Latino bias; 4.3 percent resulted from anti-Asian bias. Among the 4,930 victims of racial hate crimes, as many as 2,391 were of African descent. Some Americans blamed the outbreak of the pandemic on Asian Americans, and there had been an increase in the number of hate crimes and incidents of harassment and discrimination against Asian Americans, according to a report published on the website of USA Today on May 20. Statistics from the civil rights organization Stop AAPI Hate showed there were over 2,300 anti-Asian hate crimes in the U.S. during the first seven months of 2020.
警察暴力执法导致非洲裔死亡案件频发。2020年3月13日，26岁的非洲裔女子布伦娜·泰勒在自己家中被警察射中8枪致死。2020年5月25日，46岁的非洲裔男子乔治·弗洛伊德被白人警察当街残忍“跪杀”。2020年8月23日，29岁的非洲裔男子雅各布·布莱克在打开车门要上车时被警察从背后连开7枪导致重伤，事发时布莱克3个年幼的孩子就在车上目睹了这一恐怖经过。“警察暴力地图”网站数据显示，2020年美国警察共枪杀1127人，其中只有18天没有杀人。非洲裔只占美国总人口的13%，却占被警察枪杀人数的28%，非洲裔被警察杀死的概率是白人的3倍。2013年至2020年，约98%的涉案警察未被指控犯罪，被定罪的警察更是少之又少。
Unchecked police violence led to frequent deaths of African Americans. On March 13, 2020, Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old African-American woman, was shot eight times and killed by police in her own home. On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a 46-year-old African American was killed after a white policeman kneeled on his neck in the street. On Aug. 23, 2020, Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old African American, was severely injured after police officers shot him seven times in the back when Blake was getting into a car. At the time, Blake’s three kids were in the car, witnessing the horrible act. American police shot and killed a total of 1,127 people in 2020, with no killing reported in just 18 days, according to Mapping Police Violence. African Americans made up 13 percent of the U.S. population, but accounted for 28 percent of the people killed by the police. African Americans were approximately three times more likely than white people to be killed by police. From 2013 to 2020, about 98 percent of the police involved in shooting cases were not charged with a crime, and the number of convicted was even smaller.
有色人种受疫情危害更大。2020年8月21日，联合国人权理事会非洲人后裔问题专家工作组向人权理事会第45次会议提交报告指出，美国新冠肺炎病毒的感染率和死亡率体现了明显的种族差异，非洲裔的感染率、住院率和死亡率分别是白人的3倍、5倍和2倍。英国《金融时报》网站2020年5月15日报道称，“没有什么比这场疫情下的生与死更能体现美国的肤色差异了”。美国疾病控制与预防中心2020年8月7日发布的报告显示，疫情中的种族差异扩大到了儿童。拉美裔儿童因新冠肺炎住院的比率是白人儿童的9倍，非洲裔儿童住院的比率是白人儿童的6倍。（注10）《洛杉矶时报》网站2020年7月10日报道，洛杉矶公共卫生总监芭芭拉·费雷尔指出，病毒对非洲裔和拉美裔居民造成的严重影响，根源在于“种族主义和歧视对获得健康所需资源和机会的影响”。《今日美国报》网站2020年10月22日评论指出，有色人种死于疫情的人数远远多于白人，可归因于不平等的教育与经济体系导致有色人种得不到高薪工作，住房歧视导致有色人种居住密集，以及以牺牲穷人为代价的环境政策等。在新冠肺炎死亡率最高的10个县中，有7个县是有色人种人口占大多数；在死亡率最高的前50个县中，有31个县的居住者主要是有色人种。
People of color were more harmed by the epidemic. The infection rate and death rate of COVID-19 in the United States showed significant racial differences, with the infection rate, hospitalization rate and death rate of African Americans being three times, five times and twice that of white people respectively, according to a report delivered by the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent to the UN Human Rights Council on Aug. 21, 2020. “Nothing brings into sharper relief America’s color disparities than life and death in the Great Lockdown,” said a report published on the website of the Financial Times on May 15, 2020. Racial disparities in the epidemic extend to children, according to a report released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Aug. 7, 2020. Latino and black children were hospitalized with COVID-19 at a rate nine times and six times that of white kids, respectively. Barbara Ferrer, director of public health for Los Angeles County, said the disproportionate impact of the coronavirus on black and Latino residents is rooted in the impact of racism and discrimination on the access to the resources and opportunities that are needed to good health, according to the website of the Los Angeles Times on July 10, 2020. COVID-19 kills far more people of color than white Americans, which could be attributed to America’s unequal education and economic systems that disproportionately leave people of color out of higher-wage jobs, discrimination in housing that corralled people of color into tightly packed neighborhoods, and environmental policies designed by white power brokers at the expense of the poor, an article by USA Today said. Of the 10 U.S. counties with the highest death rates from COVID-19, seven have populations where people of color make up the majority, according to data compiled by USA Today. Of the top 50 counties with the highest death rates, 31 are populated mostly by people of color.
有色人种面临更严重的失业威胁。英国《卫报》网站2020年4月28日评论称，“最后被雇佣，最先被解雇”是非洲裔美国人最无奈的现实。美国劳工部2020年5月8日发布的报告显示，4月份非洲裔和拉美裔的失业率分别飙升至16.7%和18.9%，创历史最高纪录。（注11）《华盛顿邮报》网站2020年6月4日报道，经过严重疫情后，只有不到一半的非洲裔美国成年人还拥有工作。美国劳工部2020年9月发布的数据显示，非洲裔的失业率比白人高出近一倍。（注12）《基督教科学箴言报》2020年7月20日报道，工会领导者呼吁美国劳工在20多个城市罢工，以抗议在疫情期间加剧的系统性种族主义和经济不平等。
People of color faced an even greater threat of unemployment. The Guardian commented in an article on April 28, 2020 that the “last hired, first fired” phenomenon was the most frustrating reality for African Americans. A report released by the U.S. Department of Labor on May 8, 2020 revealed the unemployment rate of African Americans and Latinos soared to 16.7 percent and 18.9 percent respectively in April, both the highest on record. The Washington Post reported on June 4, 2020 that after the Great Lockdown in spring, fewer than half of all black adults had a job. Figures released by the U.S. Department of Labor in September showed the jobless rate for the black people almost doubled that for the white. The Christian Science Monitor reported on July 20, 2020 that trade union leaders called for a national workers strike in more than two dozen U.S. cities to protest systemic racism and economic inequality that had only worsened during the novel coronavirus pandemic.
执法司法领域存在系统性种族歧视。《信使》杂志网2020年12月17日报道，在路易斯维尔市，尽管非洲裔美国人仅占当地驾龄人口的20%，且在搜查中发现违禁品的比率远低于白人，但警察对于非洲裔的搜查却占搜查总次数的57%，近3年内被逮捕者中有43.5%是非洲裔。英国广播公司网站2020年6月1日报道，尽管非洲裔仅占美国总人口的13%，却占监狱囚犯总数的三分之一，这意味着每10万名非洲裔中就有1000多人被监禁。美国全国州议会会议网站2020年7月15日发布的研究显示，有色人种在美国18岁以下未成年人中的比例约为三分之一，却占被监禁未成年人总数的三分之二。艾奥瓦公共广播新闻网2020年12月18日报道，在艾奥瓦州的监狱中，非洲裔的监禁率是白人的11倍。即使犯同一罪行，非洲裔也更可能被判更长的刑期。《洛杉矶时报》2020年9月15日报道，美国联邦司法系统死刑适用中也存在着种族偏见，杀害非洲裔比杀害白人面临死刑的可能性更低。当受害者是白人时，重罚有色人种犯罪嫌疑人的倾向更为明显。《戴维斯先锋报》网站2020年12月4日报道，自1976年以来，有色人种在美国的死刑执行中占比高达43%，目前等待执行的被告人中55%是有色人种。《迈阿密先驱报》网站2020年12月18日发表评论认为：“在我们的国家，刑事司法制度是由你的钱包和肤色来决定的。”
Systemic racial discrimination existed in law enforcement and justice. The Courier Journal reported on its website on Dec. 17, 2020 that although black people make up about 20 percent of Louisville’s driving-age population, they accounted for 57 percent of police searches, even though the police were far more likely to find contraband in searches of white people than black people. In the past three years, black people made up 43.5 percent of arrests by the Louisville Metro Police Department. African Americans made up around 13 percent of the U.S. population, but represented almost a third of the country’s prison population, which meant that there were more than 1,000 African-American prisoners for every 100,000 African American population. People of color constitute approximately one-third of the U.S. population under 18, but two-thirds of incarcerated minors, according to a report by the National Conference of State Legislatures on July 15, 2020. Iowa Public Radio News reported on Dec. 18, 2020 that in Iowa’s prisons, black Iowans were imprisoned at a rate 11 times that of white Iowans. Black people were probably sentenced to a longer jail term for the same offense. The Los Angeles Times reported on Sept. 15, 2020 that black people have been over-represented on death rows across the United States and killers of black people are less likely to face the death penalty than people who kill white people. Davis Vanguard reported on Dec. 4, 2020 that people of color account for a disproportionate 43 percent of executions in the U.S. since 1976, and 55 percent of defendants currently awaiting execution are people of color. “We live in a country where our criminal justice system is defined by the size of your wallet and the color of your skin,” said an article published by the Miami Herald on Dec. 18, 2020.
职场中的种族歧视根深蒂固。哥伦比亚广播公司新闻网2020年10月7日报道，对20多名现任和前任非洲裔美国特工的采访中，受访者都称联邦调查局的职场文化对少数族裔缺乏包容性。联邦调查局的10个最高领导职位目前全部由白人担任。全球13000名联邦调查局特工中，非洲裔仅占4%，非洲裔妇女仅占1%，这一比例几十年来几乎没有变化。联邦调查局在业务培训中不成比例地淘汰非洲裔申请者。该机构非洲裔事务多元化委员会负责人杰克逊表示，这是一种系统性的种族主义。《洛杉矶时报》网站2020年7月2日报道，脸书公司被指控在雇用、补偿和晋升方面存在对非洲裔的系统性歧视。数据显示，2019年在美国担任该公司技术职务的员工中只有1.5%是非洲裔，高级领导层中只有3.1%是非洲裔。过去5年，该公司的雇员增长了400%，但上述比例却几乎没有任何改变。
Workplace racial discrimination was deeply rooted. According to a CBS News report on Oct. 7, 2020, over 20 current and former black agents interviewed all described some sort of racial discrimination while in the FBI. Of the top 10 leadership positions in the FBI, all are currently held by white men. Currently, only 4 percent of the 13,000 FBI agents around the world are black, and black women only account for 1 percent, a number that has stayed virtually the same for decades. There were long-standing problems at the FBI such as the disproportionate weeding out of black applicants during the training process. As head of the FBI’s Black Affairs Diversity Committee, Eric Jackson called it “institutionalized racism.” According to a report by the Los Angeles Times on July 2, 2020, Facebook Inc. was accused of systemic discrimination in hiring, compensation and promotion of black people. Facebook’s own figures showed just 1.5 percent of employees in technical roles in the U.S. were black in 2019, and 3.1 percent were black among senior leadership. Those percentages have barely budged even as the company’s employees grew by 400 percent over the past five years.
对少数族裔的社会歧视广泛存在。《华尔街日报》和美国全国广播公司2020年7月9日进行的一项联合民意调查显示，56%的美国选民认为美国社会是种族主义社会，非洲裔和拉美裔受到歧视。《洛杉矶时报》网站2020年7月14日报道，弗洛伊德事件发生后，更多的白人也认为美国种族歧视问题严重。调查显示，白人受访者认为非洲裔经常受到歧视的可能性从2月的22%上升到7月的40%，认为拉美裔经常受到歧视的可能性从22%上升到32%，认为亚裔经常受到歧视的可能性从7%上升到20%。
Social discrimination against ethnic minorities was widespread. A poll conducted by the Wall Street Journal and NBC News on July 9, 2020 found that 56 percent of the U.S. voters believe American society is racist and blacks and Hispanics are discriminated against. The Los Angeles Times reported on July 14, 2020 that after the death of George Floyd, more white Americans recognized the serious racial discrimination in the United States. A July 2020 survey showed that compared with February, white respondents are 18 percentage points more likely to believe black Americans are discriminated against frequently (from 22 percent to 40 percent), 10 percentage points more likely to believe Latinos are discriminated against frequently (from 22 percent to 32 percent), and 13 percentage points more likely to believe Asians are discriminated against frequently (from 7 percent to 20 percent).
种族间的不平等进一步加剧。芝加哥大学和圣母大学的研究显示，2020年6月至11月，美国的贫困率上升了2.4个百分点，而非洲裔的贫困率上升了3.1个百分点。（注13）数据显示，白人家庭的财富中位数是非洲裔的42倍，是拉美裔的23倍。美联社2020年10月13日报道，美联储发布的数据显示，2019年只有33.5%的非洲裔家庭持有股票，远低于61%的白人家庭股票持有率。《今日美国报》网站2020年10月23日报道，2020年第一季度，美国白人家庭的住房拥有率为73.7%，而非洲裔家庭的住房拥有率却只有44%。《华盛顿邮报》网站2020年6月4日报道称，非洲裔美国人的生活处境极为艰难，超过五分之一的非洲裔家庭面临食物匮乏，这一比例超过白人家庭3倍之多。美国广播公司新闻网站2020年10月11日报道，2019年有15.7%的拉美裔生活在贫困之中，是白人的2倍多。
Inequality between races worsened. According to researchers from the University of Chicago and University of Notre Dame, the U.S. poverty rate jumped by 2.4 percentage points from June to November 2020, while the poverty rate among black Americans went up by 3.1 percentage points. Statistics showed the median white household has 41 times more wealth (measured as the sum of assets held by a family minus total household debt) than the median black family and 22 times more than the median Latino family. Citing data released by the Federal Reserve, the Associated Press reported on Oct. 13, 2020 that only 33.5 percent of black households owned stocks in 2019, compared with 61 percent for white households. USA Today reported on Oct. 23, 2020 that in the first quarter of 2020, the national homeownership rate for white households was 73.7 percent, but only 44 percent of black households owned a home. The Washington Post reported on June 4, 2020 that more than one in five black families now report they often or sometimes do not have enough food -- more than three times the rate for white families. ABC News reported on Oct. 11, 2020 that 15.7 percent of Latinos lived in poverty in 2019, a percentage more than double that of the white people.
四、社会持续动荡威胁公众安全
IV. Continuous Social Unrest Threatens Public Safety
政府维护治安不力，原本就高发的枪击事件和暴力犯罪在疫情期间迭创新高，民众恐慌难安。警察毫无节制地暴力执法，引发一次又一次席卷全国的抗议浪潮。警方滥用武力镇压抗议民众，大规模攻击和逮捕新闻记者，致使民怨进一步沸腾高涨，引发持续的社会动荡。
The government failed to maintain proper law and order, and shootings and violent crimes, which were already high in incidence, recorded new highs during the COVID-19 pandemic, causing panic among members of the public. The police’s unrestrained use of violence in law enforcement triggered waves of protests that swept across the country. The police had abused their force to suppress protesters, and attacked and arrested journalists on a large scale, further fueling public anger and continuous social unrest.
疫情期间犯罪率持续增长。新冠肺炎疫情大流行期间，尽管各种防疫措施导致户外活动大幅减少，但大城市的犯罪率却持续增长。根据联邦调查局2020年9月发布的《初步统一犯罪报告》，2020年上半年，美国的谋杀案比2019年同期增长14.8%，其中25万至50万人口城市的谋杀案增长26%；纵火案上升19%，其中人口超过100万城市的纵火案上升52%；芝加哥的谋杀案激增37%，纵火案激增52.9%；纽约和洛杉矶的谋杀案分别增长了23%和14%。
Crime rates were on the rise amid the pandemic. While outdoor activities were down drastically as a result of various epidemic response measures, the crime rates were up in large cities amid the pandemic. According to the FBI’s Preliminary Uniform Crime Report released in September 2020, in the first half of 2020, the number of murder and nonnegligent manslaughter offenses increased 14.8 percent year on year, with cities with populations of 250,000 to 500,000 reporting an increase of 26 percent. During the same period, the number of arson offenses increased 19 percent year on year, while such offenses rose 52 percent in cities with populations of 1 million and over. Murders in Chicago spiked by 37 percent, while arson in the city was up 52.9 percent. New York City recorded an increase of 23 percent in homicides, while Los Angeles saw murders rise by 14 percent.
暴力犯罪数量居高不下。联邦调查局2020年发布的报告显示，2019年美国共发生暴力犯罪案件120多万起，其中谋杀案16425起、强奸案139815起、抢劫案267988起、重伤案821182起。这意味着每10万居民中分别发生5起谋杀案、40余起强奸案、80余起抢劫案和250余起重伤案。
The number of violent crimes remained high. According to FBI reports released in 2020, more than 1.2 million violent crimes occurred in the United States in 2019, including 16,425 murders, 139,815 rapes, 267,988 robberies, and 821,182 aggravated assaults, translating to five murders, over 40 rapes, 80 robberies and 250 aggravated assaults per 100,000 inhabitants.
枪支交易和枪击事件再创历史新高。加州大学戴维斯分校的一项研究发现，美国疫情失控导致人们对社会稳定失去信心，许多曾经反对拥枪的人士也开始购枪，导致疫情期间的枪支购买量飙升。（注14）《华盛顿邮报》网站2021年1月19日报道，在疫情失控、种族抗议和选举冲突交织影响下，2020年美国的枪支销量高达2300万支，比2019年激增64%。根据美国全国射击运动基金会的数据，2020年美国首次购买枪支的人数超过800万人。《今日美国报》网站2020年12月18日报道，美国的持枪杀人率是其他发达国家的25倍。“枪支暴力档案室”发布的数据显示，2020年美国共有超过41500人死于枪击，平均每天达110多人，创下历史最高纪录；全国共发生592起大规模枪击事件，平均每天超过1.6起。北卡罗来纳州查塔姆郡枪击案、加利福尼亚州河滨郡枪击案、阿拉巴马州摩根郡枪击案均造成7人死亡。芝加哥仅5月底的一个周末就有85人被枪击，其中24人死亡。2021年1月9日下午，32岁的枪手杰森·南丁格尔在芝加哥沿街疯狂滥杀民众，导致3人死亡、4人重伤。
Gun sales and shootings hit record high. A study from the University of California, Davis found a significant increase in firearm violence in the United States associated with the coronavirus-related surge in firearm purchasing. A new destabilizing sense as virus fears spread had been motivating even people who had considered themselves anti-gun to buy weapons for the first time. The Washington Post reported on its website on Jan. 19, 2021 that, COVID-19 lockdowns, anti-racism protests and election strife had led to record gun sales of about 23 million in 2020, a 64 percent increase over 2019 sales. The 2020 numbers include purchases by more than 8 million first-time buyers, according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation. USA Today reported on its website on Dec. 18, 2020 that, with regard to gun homicides, the United States has historically reported a rate about 25 times higher than other wealthy nations. According to data from Gun Violence Archive, more than 41,500 people died by gun violence in 2020 nationwide, an average of more than 110 a day, which is a record. There had been 592 mass shootings nationwide, an average of more than 1.6 a day. Shootings in Chatham County of North Carolina, Riverside County of California, and Morgan County of Alabama each claimed seven lives. A deadly weekend in Chicago came at the end of May, when 85 people were shot, 24 fatally. In the afternoon of Jan. 9, 2021, 32-year-old Jason Nightengale went on a random shooting rampage in Chicago, leaving three people killed and four others wounded.
弗洛伊德被警察当街跪杀引发骚乱。2020年5月25日晚，46岁的非洲裔男子乔治·弗洛伊德因涉嫌使用假钞购买香烟，被白人警察残忍跪压8分钟之久致死。明尼阿波利斯市市长雅各布·弗雷悲愤地说道：“我所看到的是彻彻底底的错误。作为黑人在美国不应等同于被判了死刑。”律师本·克拉姆普发表声明指出：“弗洛伊德受到的仅是一项非暴力指控，却因警察过度和不人道地滥用武力而丧生。”美国法治民权律师委员会会长克里斯汀·克拉克指出：“对这个国家的黑人来说，现在的绝望深不见底。毫无节制的警察暴行日积月累，酝酿了一场巨大风暴。”（注15）警察暴行引燃社会怒火，“黑人的命也是命”抗议浪潮席卷全美，并波及多个国家。美国各地骚乱连连升级，抗议人群堵塞道路、构筑街垒与警察对峙，大量警察局和公共机构、商场商店被洗劫。英国《卫报》网站2020年6月8日报道，乔治·弗洛伊德遭警察当街跪杀之后，美国50个州的大约140个城市都发生了针对这起谋杀的抗议和示威。
George Floyd’s death from police brutality sparked unrest. On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a 46-year-old African-American man from Minnesota, died after a white police officer kneeled on his neck for eight minutes during an arrest for forgery. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said what he saw was “wrong on every level,” noting, “Being black in America should not be a death sentence.” Civil rights attorney Ben Crump said in a statement, “This abusive, excessive and inhumane use of force cost the life of a man who was being detained by the police for questioning about a non-violent charge.” Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the National Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, said, “The depths of despair are enormous right now for black people in this country. You pile on unchecked police violence and it makes for a perfect storm.” The police brutality sparked visceral outrage, leading to protests in support of Black Lives Matter throughout the United States, as well as in other countries. The unrest escalated across the nation, with protesters blocking the streets and building barricades to confront the police. A large number of police stations, public institutions and shopping malls were looted. The Guardian reported on its website on June 8, 2020 that, since George Floyd’s death at the hands of police, about 140 cities in all 50 states throughout the United States have seen protests and demonstrations in response to the killing.
示威民众遭武力镇压。面对沸腾的民怨，时任美国政府领导人火上浇油，调集大批国民警卫队奔赴各地，号召开枪射击，现场橡皮子弹横飞，催泪瓦斯弥漫，民众惊恐不已，社会陷入一片混乱。政府派遣的联邦探员在各地随意抓捕抗议者，1万多人被逮捕，其中包含大量无辜民众。2020年，非洲裔女子布伦娜·泰勒被警察枪杀公之于众后，再次引爆“黑人的命也是命”抗议浪潮，仅在路易斯维尔的抗议活动中就有435人被逮捕。（注16）英国《卫报》网站2020年10月29日报道，2020年5月以来的反种族主义抗议中，美国至少发生了950起警察针对普通民众和记者的施暴事件。警方对抗议者使用了橡皮子弹、催泪瓦斯和“非法的致命性武力”。
The demonstrators were suppressed by force. In the face of visceral public grievances, the then U.S. administration leader added fuel to the fire by deploying a large number of National Guard soldiers across the country and calling for shooting. Targeted with flying rubber bullets and tear gas on site, the public were horrified and the society fell into chaos. U.S. federal agents had been grabbing protesters seemingly without cause. More than 10,000 individuals had been arrested, including many innocent people. The disclosure of the shooting death of Breonna Taylor, an African-American woman, during a police raid fueled a renewed wave of Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, with the city of Louisville alone reporting arrests of 435 individuals during the movement. The Guardian reported on its website on Oct. 29, 2020 that, at least 950 instances of police brutality against civilians and journalists during anti-racism protests had occurred since May 2020. The police had used rubber bullets, tear gas and “unlawful lethal force” against protesters.
新闻记者遭到执法部门前所未有的攻击。2020年美国至少有117名记者在报道反种族主义抗议等活动中被逮捕或拘留，比2019年暴增12倍。英国《卫报》网站2020年6月5日报道，“记者被警察殴打、喷胡椒喷雾和逮捕的数量在美国前所未有地增加”。在弗洛伊德事件发生后的一周内，美国便发生了148起逮捕或袭击记者事件，遭逮捕的记者人数超过了前三年的总和。“保护记者委员会”2020年12月14日发表声明称，美国记者在2020年遭遇了前所未有的攻击，其中大多数是被执法部门袭击的。
Journalists had been subject to unparalleled attacks by law enforcement. There were at least 117 cases of journalists being arrested or detained while on the job covering anti-racism protests in the United States in 2020, a 1,200-percent increase from the figure in 2019. The Guardian reported on its website on June 5, 2020 that, reporters were beaten, pepper-sprayed and arrested by police in numbers never before documented in the United States. There were 148 arrests or attacks on journalists in the country within one week after the George Floyd incident, which was more than what was recorded during the previous three years combined. The Committee to Protect Journalists said in a statement on Dec. 14, 2020 that, U.S. journalists faced unprecedented attacks in 2020, the majority by law enforcement.
五、贫富日益分化加剧社会不公
V. Growing Polarization Between Rich and Poor Aggravates Social Inequality
新冠肺炎疫情使美国社会深陷第二次世界大战以来最严重的经济衰退，企业大批倒闭，劳动者失去工作，贫富差距进一步扩大，底层民众生活苦不堪言。
The COVID-19 epidemic plunged the United States into the worst economic downturn since World War II. A large number of businesses shut down, workers lost their jobs, the gap between rich and poor widened, and the lives of the people at the bottom of society were miserable.
贫富差距加速扩大。彭博网站2020年10月8日报道，美国最富有的50人与最贫穷的1.65亿人拥有的财富相等，1%最富有的人拥有的净资产是50%最贫困人口的16.4倍。疫情进一步加剧了财富不平等状况。福布斯网站2020年12月11日报道，美国614位亿万富翁的集体净资产在疫情期间增加了9310亿美元。芝加哥大学和圣母大学的研究显示，美国的贫困率从2020年6月份的9.3%快速上升到11月份的11.7%。（注17）
The rich-poor divide further widened. The website of Bloomberg reported on Oct. 8, 2020 that the 50 richest Americans now hold almost as much wealth as the poorest 165 million people in the country. The richest 1 percent of Americans have a combined net worth that is 16.4 times that of the poorest 50 percent. The epidemic has aggravated wealth inequality. The website of Forbes reported on Dec. 11, 2020 that over the past months of the pandemic, the collective net worth of America’s 614 billionaires has increased by 931 billion U.S. dollars. America’s poverty rate jumped to 11.7 percent in November 2020, up from 9.3 percent in June, according to researchers from the University of Chicago and University of Notre Dame.
疫情失控引发大规模失业。《华盛顿邮报》网站2020年5月9日报道，美国企业倒闭和失业潮的速度及规模超乎想象，2050万人在短期内失去工作，几乎是2007年至2009年整个金融危机期间的2倍。高中以下教育程度人口的失业率2020年4月飙升至21.2%，创“大衰退”以来历史最高水平。《今日美国报》网站2020年8月8日报道，2020年6月，33个都会区失业率超过15%。2020年2月至5月，1150万美国女性失去工作。（注18）
Out-of-control epidemic led to mass unemployment. The speed and magnitude of business closures and job losses defied comparison, according to a report on the website of The Washington Post on May 9, 2020. Some 20.5 million people abruptly lost their jobs, which was roughly double what the nation experienced during the entire financial crisis from 2007 to 2009. In April 2020, the unemployment rate soared to 21.2 percent for people with less than a high school degree, surpassing the previous all-time high set in the aftermath of the Great Recession. The website of USA Today reported on Aug. 8, 2020 that 33 U.S. metro areas had a jobless rate of over 15 percent in June 2020. About 11.5 million American women lost their jobs between February and May 2020.
数千万人在疫情中陷入食物危机。“喂养美国”网站2020年10月更新的分析报告显示，超过5000万人陷入食物无保障状况，这意味着六分之一美国人、四分之一美国儿童面临饥饿威胁。英国《卫报》网站2020年11月25日报道，美国食物救助需求比疫情流行前高出60%。2020年感恩节期间，高达数百万美国人不得不依靠慈善机构的救助才能避免挨饿。
Tens of millions of people were in food crisis in the epidemic. More than 50 million people -- one in six Americans, including one in four children -- could experience food insecurity in 2020, according to an analysis report updated in October 2020 by Feeding America. The website of the Guardian reported on Nov. 25, 2020 that nationwide, demand for food aid has plateaued at about 60 percent higher than pre-pandemic times. Millions of Americans must rely on charity to put Thanksgiving dinner on the table in 2020.
医疗保险覆盖人群锐减。美国因政治极化一直未能实现全民医保，享有医保的人群又因疫情急剧缩减。2020年3月至5月，估计约2700万美国人由于疫情失去医疗保险。得克萨斯州未参加医疗保险的人数从430万人暴增至490万人，使得该州无医保人口比例升至30%。（注19）
Health insurance coverage plummeted. America has no universal health insurance because of political polarization and the number of people enjoying health insurance has shrunk sharply due to the epidemic. From March to May 2020, an estimated 27 million Americans have lost health insurance coverage in the pandemic. In Texas alone, the number of uninsured jumped from about 4.3 million to nearly 4.9 million, which means that three out of every 10 Texans are uninsured.
数字鸿沟加剧教育不平等。一份基于普查数据的分析报告指出，2018年，约1700万美国儿童生活在没有互联网的家庭中，700万儿童所在的家庭没有计算机。（注20）《政治家》网站2020年9月23日报道，距美国国会大厦仅一小时车程的巴尔的摩市在校儿童中就有三分之一的人没有电脑；三分之一的非洲裔、拉美裔和印第安人家庭没有互联网。在疫情期间远程教育成为主流教育模式的背景下，与较富裕的同龄人相比，低收入和少数族裔孩子的家庭背景使得他们难以拥有进行独立学习的技术条件和环境，因而在远程学习方面处于劣势地位，进一步加剧了由贫困和种族不平等造成的教育差距。
The digital divide aggravated educational inequality. In 2018, nearly 17 million children lived in homes without internet connection, and more than 7 million did not have computers at home, according to a report that analyzed census data for that year. The website of Politico reported on Sept. 23, 2020 that one in three students in Baltimore city, which is only an hour’s drive from the U.S. Capitol, has no computers. One in three African American, Latino or American Indian families do not have home internet. Virtual learning became a mainstream education pattern during the epidemic. Compared with their wealthier peers, low-income and minority children are less likely to have appropriate technology and home environments for independent study because of their family backgrounds and therefore are at a disadvantage in e-learning, further aggravating the educational divide caused by poverty and racial inequality.
六、践踏国际规则造成人道灾难
VI. Trampling on International Rules Results in Humanitarian Disasters
在抗疫需要全球团结的时刻，美国却执意奉行本国优先，推行孤立主义、单边主义，挥舞制裁大棒，霸凌威胁国际机构，残酷对待寻求庇护者，成为全球安全与稳定的最大麻烦制造者。
At a time when global unity is needed to fight the pandemic, the United States, however, persists in pursuing an agenda of “America first,” isolationism, and unilateralism, imposing sanctions wantonly, bullying and threatening international organizations, and treating asylum seekers cruelly, thus becoming the biggest troublemaker to global security and stability.
悍然退出世界卫生组织。美国特朗普政府为推卸自身抗疫不力的责任，挖空心思罗织各种不实指责，极力将世界卫生组织打造成“替罪羊”。2020年4月14日，美国政府宣布暂停向世界卫生组织缴纳会费，遭到国际社会一致谴责。联合国秘书长古特雷斯4月14日发表声明称，全球正在抗击新冠肺炎疫情，削减世卫组织或任何其他人道主义组织所需资金不合时宜。美国医学会主席帕特里斯·哈里斯4月15日发表声明说，美国在这一关键时刻暂停向世卫组织提供资金支持，是在错误方向上迈出的危险一步。英国《卫报》网站4月15日发表评论称，在世界迫切需要共同战胜这场全球从未经历过的威胁时，美国政府停缴世卫组织会费是一种缺乏道德和破坏国际秩序的行为，是“对全球团结的骇人背叛”。2020年7月，美国政府不顾国际社会反对，悍然宣布退出世界卫生组织。
The United States withdrew from WHO. In order to shirk its responsibility for its disastrous anti-pandemic measures, the Trump administration tried every means to scapegoat the World Health Organization (WHO) by fabricating false charges against the organization. On April 14, 2020, the U.S. government announced its suspension of paying dues to the WHO, which was widely criticized by the international community. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres issued a statement on April 14, 2020, saying that when the world was fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, it was inappropriate to reduce the resources required by the WHO or any other humanitarian organization for operations. President of the American Medical Association, Patrice Harris, stated on April 15, 2020 that combating the pandemic required international cooperation and halting funding to the WHO at this critical moment was a dangerous step in the wrong direction. On April 15, 2020, an online article of the Guardian commented that when the world desperately needed to jointly overcome this threat that the world had never experienced before, the suspension of the WHO dues by the U.S. government was an act that lacked morality and disrupted the international order, and was a horrible betrayal to global solidarity. In July 2020, the U.S. government brazenly announced its withdrawal from the WHO despite the opposition of the international community.
背信弃义退出《巴黎协定》。美国是全球累积排放温室气体最多的国家，按照共同但有区别的责任原则，本应承担最大的减排责任，却肆意妄为大开历史倒车，于2020年11月4日正式退出《巴黎协定》，是近200个缔约方中唯一一个退出该协定的国家。国际社会普遍认为，美国此举在政治上是短视的，在科学上是错误的，在道德上是不负责任的。联合国全球变暖科学报告的作者之一、康奈尔大学气候科学家娜塔莉·马霍瓦尔德指出：“美国退出《巴黎协定》将会削弱全球减排努力，从而使更多的人因气候变化陷入生死存亡的险境。”（注21）
The United States walked away from its commitments to and withdrew from the Paris Agreement. The United States, as the largest cumulative emitter of greenhouse gases in the world, should bear the greatest share of emission reduction based on the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities. However, the United States ran counter to the trend of the times and officially withdrew from the Paris Agreement on Nov. 4, 2020, becoming the only country among the nearly 200 contracting parties to quit the treaty. The international community generally believed that the U.S. move was politically short-sighted, unscientific, and morally irresponsible. “Having the U.S. pull out of Paris is likely to reduce efforts to mitigate, and therefore increase the number of people who are put into a life-or-death situation because of the impacts of climate change,” said Cornell University climate scientist Natalie Mahowald, a coauthor of UN science reports on global warming.
霸凌行径威胁国际机构。2020年6月11日，美国政府对国际刑事法院的工作人员及其家属实施经济制裁和入境限制，只因他们坚持调查美国军队和情报官员在阿富汗和其他地方可能犯下的战争罪。联合国新闻网站2020年6月25日刊文称，美国此举是对国际法和国际道义的“直接攻击”。联合国人权理事会2020年6月19日通过决议，强烈谴责美国非洲裔男子乔治·弗洛伊德遭警察暴力执法致死事件。法新社援引人权组织的话称，因美国“强力游说”施压，决议最终版删除了点名美国种族问题和警察暴力的内容，未启动对美国进行更深入的调查。美国公民自由联盟批评称，美国通过霸凌其他国家，使决议内容大打折扣，并且再次逃脱国际调查，又一次站在了非洲裔和警察暴力受害者的对立面。
Bullying actions threatened international organizations. On June 11, 2020, the U.S. government authorized economic sanctions and travel restrictions against workers of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and their family members for investigating American troops and intelligence officials for possible war crimes in Afghanistan and elsewhere. The U.S. sanctions targeting ICC staff were “a direct attack on the institution’s judicial independence,” according to an article on the website of UN NEWS on June 25, 2020. On June 19, 2020, the United Nations Human Rights Council adopted a resolution strongly condemning police brutality that led to the death of African American George Floyd. Citing remarks from human rights groups, the AFP said that the final version of the resolution removed the call for further investigations and stripped away any mention of the racism and police brutality in the United States due to “hard lobbying.” By bullying other countries, the United States watered down the text of the resolution, escaped from international probes for another time, and ran counter to the African descent in the United States and victims of police violence, said the American Civil Liberties Union.
单边制裁加重人道危机。在疫情全球蔓延、关乎人类生命与健康福祉的重要时刻，各国应团结协作以应对疫情，维护全球公共卫生安全。美国政府却在疫情期间依然对伊朗、古巴、委内瑞拉、叙利亚等国实施单边制裁，导致被制裁国家难以及时获得抗击疫情需要的医疗物资。联合国人权事务高级专员米歇尔·巴切莱特2020年3月24日表示，制裁会阻碍抗疫医疗合作，给所有人增加风险；无论是出于维护全球公共卫生安全，还是为了维护被制裁国家数百万人的权利和生活，都应放松或暂停特殊领域的制裁。英国《卫报》网站2020年4月6日报道，来自多个国家的24名高级外交官联合敦促美国政府放宽对伊朗的医疗和人道主义制裁，称此举“有可能挽救数十万普通伊朗人的生命”。联合国人权专家2020年4月30日称，美国对古巴的封锁和对其他国家的制裁严重破坏了遏制疫情和拯救生命的国际合作，呼吁美国执行联合国决议，解除对古巴的经济和金融封锁，不再阻碍古巴融资购买药品、医疗设备、食品和其他必需品。（注22）联合国极端贫困与人权问题特别报告员、安全饮用水和卫生问题特别报告员、教育权问题特别报告员2020年5月6日发表联合声明，指出美国对委内瑞拉的制裁正对该国民众的人权产生严重影响，敦促美国在疫情肆虐情形下立即解除加剧该国民众苦难的制裁。联合国人权问题特别报告员阿莱娜·多汉2020年12月29日呼吁美国取消对叙利亚的单方面制裁，称在新冠肺炎疫情肆虐的背景下，制裁将加剧叙利亚本已严峻的人道主义危机，威胁到叙利亚全体民众的生命权、健康权和发展权。
Unilateral sanctions aggravated humanitarian crisis. At a critical time when COVID-19 spread globally and endangered human life, health, and wellbeing, all countries should work together to respond to the pandemic and maintain global public health security. However, during this pandemic, the U.S. government still imposed unilateral sanctions on countries such as Iran, Cuba, Venezuela, and Syria, which made it difficult for the sanctioned countries to obtain needed anti-pandemic medical supplies in a timely manner. United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said on March 24, 2020, that in the case of a global pandemic, sanctions would hinder medical work and increase risks for everyone. She argued that to maintain global public health security and protect the rights and lives of millions of people in sanctioned countries, sanctions should be relaxed or suspended in certain sectors. A group of 24 senior diplomats from various countries urged the U.S. government to ease medical and humanitarian sanctions on Iran, noting that such move “could potentially save the lives of hundreds of thousands of ordinary Iranians,” according to a report on the website of the Guardian on April 6, 2020. On April 30, 2020, UN human rights experts said that the U.S. embargo on Cuba and sanctions on other countries seriously undermined international cooperation to curb the pandemic and save lives. The experts called on the United States to implement UN resolutions, lift its economic and financial embargo on Cuba and withdraw measures that prevent Cuba from financing the purchase of medicine, medical equipment, food and other essential goods. The United Nations Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, the Special Rapporteur on human rights for safe drinking water and sanitation, and the Special Rapporteur on the right to education issued a joint statement on May 6, 2020, saying that the U.S. sanctions on Venezuela were seriously harming the human rights of the people in the country. They urged the United States to immediately lift sanctions that exacerbated the suffering of the people when the pandemic raged in the country. On Dec. 29, 2020, Alena Douhan, United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights, called on the United States to remove unilateral sanctions against Syria, noting that the sanctions would exacerbate the already dire humanitarian crisis in Syria and run roughshod over the Syrian people’s rights to live, health, and development.
残酷对待寻求庇护者。美国有线电视新闻网2020年9月30日报道，2020财年共有21人在美国移民拘留所中死亡，是2019财年死亡人数的2倍多，创2005年以来死亡人数最高值。《洛杉矶时报》网站2020年10月30日报道，大量移民儿童长期被羁押。数据显示，近几年被美国政府拘留的266000名移民儿童中，有25000多人被拘留超过100天，近1000人在难民收容所中度过了一年多时间，多人被拘留超过5年。根据多家美国媒体报道，数十名来自拉美和加勒比海国家的女性移民向美国佐治亚州法院提起集体诉讼，指控美国移民和海关执法局拘留中心的医生在没有征得她们同意的情况下，为她们进行了不必要的妇科手术，甚至强行摘除子宫，对其身心健康造成严重损害。英国《卫报》网站2020年10月22日报道，美国移民官员对来美寻求庇护的喀麦隆公民实施威胁，迫使他们在驱逐令上签字，拒绝签字者遭受锁喉、殴打、喷胡椒水等暴力，被戴上手铐强行在驱逐令上按下指纹，从而失去了获得移民听证的权利遭驱逐出境。
Asylum seekers were treated cruelly. According to a report of CNN on Sept. 30, 2020, in the 2020 fiscal year, 21 people died in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody, which was more than double the number of deaths in the fiscal year 2019 and marked the highest annual death toll since 2005. A report published on the website of the Los Angeles Times on Oct. 30, 2020 noted that a huge number of migrant children were stranded in custody for the long haul. Data showed that of the 266,000 migrant children held in government custody in recent years, over 25,000 had been detained for longer than 100 days, close to 1,000 migrant children had spent more than a year in refugee shelters, and some of them had spent more than five years in custody. As reported by multiple U.S. media outlets, dozens of women from Latin American and Caribbean states have filed a class action lawsuit in federal court in Georgia, claiming that they were subjected to unnecessary gynecological surgeries without their consent while in ICE custody, including uterus removal in some cases. They said these unwanted surgeries caused severe harm to their physical and mental health. The Guardian website reported on Oct. 22, 2020 that Cameroonian asylum seekers were threatened and forced to sign their own deportation orders. Those who refused to sign were choked, beaten, and pepper-sprayed, with some put in handcuffs to have their fingerprints forcibly taken in place of a signature on orders of removal, by which the asylum seekers waive their rights to further immigration hearings and accept deportation.
疫情期间继续强制遣返移民。根据美国移民及海关执法局的统计数据，截至2021年1月14日，美国移民拘留机构中共有8848人确诊感染新冠肺炎病毒。（注23）《洛杉矶时报》网站2020年11月18日报道，2020年3月以来，美国政府不顾疫情传播风险，将至少8800名无人陪伴的非法移民儿童强制驱逐出境。联合国儿童基金会称，被美国强制遣返的墨西哥和中美洲的移民儿童正面临危险和歧视。
Forced deportation of immigrant children continued during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to data tallied by the ICE, as of Jan. 14, 2021, a total of 8,848 detainees had been confirmed as COVID-19 cases. According to a report on the website of the Los Angeles Times on Nov. 18, 2020, the U.S. government had expelled at least 8,800 unaccompanied immigrant children despite serious protection risks during the COVID-19 outbreak. According to UNICEF, migrant children who returned from the United States to Mexico and Central America were facing danger and discrimination.
赦免屠杀他国平民的战争罪犯。2020年12月30日，联合国人权理事会雇佣军问题工作组发表声明，表示时任美国总统赦免在伊拉克犯下战争罪的4名黑水公司雇员违反了美国承担的国际法义务，呼吁《日内瓦公约》所有缔约国共同谴责美国这一行径。声明表示，这4名黑水公司雇员2007年在伊拉克巴格达尼苏尔广场实施屠杀，造成14名手无寸铁的平民死亡，至少17人受伤。工作组主席指出，美国赦免黑水公司雇员的行为对国际人道主义法和人权造成冲击，是对正义和受害者及其家人的侮辱。联合国人权高专办发言人乌尔塔多表示，美国此举会“加剧有罪不罚”，助长他人犯罪。
The United States pardoned criminals slaughtering civilians in other countries. On Dec. 30, 2020, the Working Group on the use of mercenaries, a mechanism of the United Nations Human Rights Council, issued a statement, saying that the then U.S. President’s pardon of four Blackwater contractors convicted of war crimes in Iraq violated U.S. obligations under international law. The statement called on all states to the Geneva Conventions to condemn the U.S. action. The four Blackwater contractors were found to have committed a massacre at Nisour Square in Baghdad in 2007, which left 14 unarmed civilians dead and at least 17 people wounded, according to the statement. Pardoning the Blackwater contractors was an affront to justice and the victims of the Nisour Square massacre and their families, said the Chair of the Working Group. Pardoning them “contributes to impunity and has the effect of emboldening others to commit such crimes in the future,” said Marta Hurtado, a spokesperson with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
（注1）《纽约时报》网站（https://www.nytimes.com），2020年10月23日。
（注2）《纽约时报》网站（https://www.nytimes.com），2020年12月18日。
（注3）《纽约时报》网站（https://www.nytimes.com），2020年5月20日。
（注4）沃克斯新闻网（https://www.vox.com），2020年8月11日。
（注5）美国广播公司网站（https://abcnews.go.com），2020年6月28日。
（注6）《今日美国报》网站（https://www.usatoday.com），2020年11月28日。
（注7）美国全国广播公司网站（https://www.nbcnews.com），2020年10月21日。
（注8）《华盛顿时报》网站（https://www.washingtontimes.com），2020年10月12日。
（注9）纽约大学布伦南司法中心网站（https://www.brennancenter.org），2020年11月20日。
（注10）《洛杉矶时报》网站（https://www.latimes.com），2020年8月7日。
（注11）《今日美国报》网站（https://www.usatoday.com），2020年5月8日。
（注12）《今日美国报》网站（https://www.usatoday.com），2020年10月22日。
（注13）美国有线电视新闻网（https://edition.cnn.com），2020年12月18日。
（注14）《纽约时报》网站（https://www.nytimes.com），2020年10月27日。
（注15）《今日美国报》网站（https://www.usatoday.com），2020年5月31日。
（注16）《今日美国报》网站（https://www.usatoday.com），2020年7月16日。
（注17）美国有线电视新闻网（https://edition.cnn.com），2020年12月18日。
（注18）《今日美国报》网站（https://www.usatoday.com），2020年10月21日。
（注19）《纽约时报》网站（https://www.nytimes.com），2020年7月13日。
（注20）《芝加哥论坛报》网站（https://www.chicagotribune.com），2020年7月2日。
（注21）《洛杉矶时报》网站（https://www.latimes.com），2020年11月4日。
（注22）联合国人权高专办网站（https://www.ohchr.org），2020年4月30日。
（注23）美国移民及海关执法局网站（https://www.ice.gov），2021年1月14日。
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双语：2020年美国侵犯人权报告 （全文）
文章来源：国新网
发布时间：2021-04-28 14:54
作者：国新网
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