Human Rights Record of the United States in 2018

Chronology of Human Rights Violations of the United States in 2018

State Council Information Office of the People's Republic of China March 2019

JANUARY

January 1

AP reported that on January 1, a US drone missile slammed into a farm in Bayda province of Yemen, killing two civilians.

January 10

The Gallup website reported 46 percent of women in the United States said they were very or somewhat dissatisfied with their position in society, up from 30 percent in 2008, when Gallup last asked the question.

January 11

For more than 10 years, Texas state government had set a "target" for the maximum percentage of students who should receive special education services, leading to the denying of therapy, tutoring and counseling to about 150,000 children with disabilities.

January 17

The Hill newspaper website reported the United States saw gerrymandering and a continued decline in the protection of political rights over the past year.

January 18

The US government announced it had withheld a pledged $45 million in food aid to Palestinians.

January 19

The Columbia Journalism Review website reported that journalists were arrested 34 times in the United States in 2017. Nine of these journalists were charged with felonies. Fifteen journalists had their equipment seized. Forty-four reporters were physically attacked.

January 20

The New York Times website reported that millions of people participated in Women's March 2018 to protest against the policy of the current administration.

January 23

British newspaper The Independent reported that the number of anti-Muslim groups in the United States had trebled since the 2016 presidential election.

FEBRUARY

February 1

According to a report by Al Jazeera News, the US government decided to keep the notorious Guantanamo military prison in Cuba open using an executive order which also gave the secretary of defense the authority to transfer more detainees to the prison camp. There were still 41 detainees being held in the prison, the majority of whom had not faced trial.

February 5

When looking at the 10 leading causes of death in the US-including cancer, stroke and heart disease-mortality rates among African Americans are higher than among white Americans, according to a report by The Huffington Post. Compelling evidence suggests both individual-and institutional-level discrimination causes such racial disparity in health.

February 6

The New Yorker magazine reported that Edward Garry from Bronx, the New York City, was jailed on murder charges in 1995. After 23-year quest to clear his name, Garry was finally acquitted.

February 13

According to a report by The Hill website, disability rights advocates were arrested for demonstrating against a House Rules Committee hearing to prepare legislation.

February 14

A shooting occurred at a high school in Parkland, Florida. Nineteen-year-old Nikolas Cruz, equipped with a gun and multiple magazines of ammunition, entered the school, pulled the fire alarm and opened fire at students who came pouring out of the classrooms, killing 17 people and injuring at least 14.

February 21

National Public Radio cited an online survey, saying that 81 percent of women in the United States had experienced some form of sexual harassment during their lifetime, 51 percent said they had been sexually touched without their permission, and 27 percent said they had survived sexual assault. The survey found that 66 percent of women said they'd been sexually harassed in public spaces while 38 percent of women said they experienced sexual harassment at the workplace.

February 22

According to a report by Pew Research Center, the median wealth of white households was almost 10 times the wealth of African American households. In 2017, 81 percent of African Americans said racism was a big problem in society, up from 44 percent eight years prior, and 92 percent of African Americans said whites benefited at least a fair amount from advantages that blacks did not have.

February 26

According to a report by Economic Policy Institute, African Americans are 2.5 times as likely to be in poverty as whites. The unemployment rate for African American workers is consistently about twice as high as it is for white workers. African Americans are about six times as likely as whites to be in prison or jail. African American infants are about 2.3 times as likely to die as white infants, and an African American born today, on average, still expect to live about 3.5 fewer years than a white person born on the same day.