BEIJING, March 9 (Xinhua) -- The United States continued to trample on human rights in other countries, causing tremendous civilian casualties, according to a report on U.S. human rights released Thursday.
The report, titled "Human Rights Record of the United States in 2016" published by China's State Council Information Office, says that the United States had repeatedly organized coalition forces to launch air strikes against military forces in Iraq and Syria.
From Aug. 8, 2014 to Dec. 19, 2016, the United States launched 7,258 air strikes in Iraq and 5,828 in Syria, causing 733 incidents with an estimated number of civilian deaths between 4,568 and 6,127, says the report.
The issue of illegal detention and torturing prisoners of other countries remained unsolved. The U.S. government promised to close Guantanamo Bay detention camp in 2009, but as of Dec. 4, 2016, there were 59 detainees at Guantanamo Bay, it says.
A declassified report revealed that in prison of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) prison in Afghanistan known as the Salt Pit, militant Gul Rahman was placed in an "extremely cold" cell, suffered from pouring water to his body, and was determined to have died of hypothermia while in detention, says the report.
In a document titled "Description of Physical Pressures," the CIA tortured detainees including a facial slap, use of diapers, "insects," and "mock burial." In November 2016, the International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor said in a report that the U.S. armed forces and the CIA may have committed war crimes by torturing detainees in Afghanistan.
According to the report, the United States continued overseas monitoring projects in a large scale. The U.S. intelligence agencies placed long-term monitoring of head and leaders of other states, diplomatic institutions and common people.@ In 2016, the CIA invested in firms to mine Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and other social media. The NSA surveillance program targeted not only domestic communication but also the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and at least 38 countries, it says.
