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   III. Human Rights in Name, Hegemonism In Reality
 II. Confusing Right and Wrong and Calling Protection An "Abuse" of Human Rights
 I. Distorting Facts to Deceive the World Public Opinion
 III. Distorting Freedom and Vilifying China
 II. Cooking Up Charges by Hook or by Crook
 I. Playing the Same Old Trick by Repeating Fabrications
 V. Wantonly violating human rights of other countries
 IV. Rights and interests of women and children violated
 III. Serious problems of racial discrimination
 II. Infringement on citizens' economic and social rights
 I. Civil, political rights endangered
 VI. Waging War Frequently and Rampantly Infringing Upon Human Rights of Other Countries
 V. Racial Discrimination Prevails, Minorities Ill-Treated
 IV. Gender Discrimination & Ill-treatment of Children
 III. Widening Gap Between Rich and Poor and Deteriorating Situation of Worker's Economic and Social Rights
 II. Rampant Violence and Arbitrary Judicial System Are Jeopardizing the freedom and lives of US citizens
 I. American Democracy - a Myth, Political Rights Infringed
 VI. Wantonly Infringing upon Human Rights of Other Countries
 V. Deep-Rooted Racial Discrimination
 IV. Worrying Conditions for Women and Children
 III. Plight of the Poor, Hungry and Homeless
 II. Serious Rights Violations by Law Enforcement Departments
 I. Lack of Safeguard for Life, Freedom and Personal Safety
 VIII. Double Standards in International Field of Human Rights
 VII. Blunt Violations of Human Rights in Other Countries
 VI. Deep-rooted Racial Discrimination
 V. Women and Children are in Worrisome Situation
 IV. Poverty, Hunger and Homelessness
 III. Money-driven Democracy
 II. Serious Human Rights Violation by Law Enforcement Officials
 I. Ineffective Protection of Life and Security of Person
 Foreword
 VI. On Infringement upon Human Rights of Other Nations
 V. On Conditions of Women, Children and Elderly People
 IV. On Racial Discrimination  
 III. On Living Conditions of US Laborers  
 II. On Political Rights and Freedom  
 I. On Life, Freedom and Personal Safety
 Foreword
 VI. On the Infringement of Human Rights of Foreign Nationals
 V. On The Rights of Women and Children
 IV. On Racial Discrimination
 III. On Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
 II. On Political Rights and Freedom
 I. On Life, Liberty and Security of Person
 Foreword
 VII. On the United States' Violation of Human Rights in Other Countries
 VI. On Rights of Women and Children
 V. On Racial Discrimination
 IV. On Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
 III. On Political Rights and Freedom
 II. On Infringements upon Human Rights by Law Enforcement and Judicial Organs
 I. On Life and Security of Person
 VII. On the United States' Violation of Human Rights in Other Countries
 VI. On the Rights of Women, Children, the Elderly and the Disabled
 V. On Racial Discrimination
 IV. On Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
 III. On Civil and Political Rights
 II. On Human Rights Violations by Law Enforcement and Judicial Departments
 I. On Life, Property and Security of Person
 Foreword

 
 China A-Z HOME
I. Ineffective Protection of Life and Security of Person
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In American society, excessive violence has resulted in ineffective protection of life and security of the person.

According to a report released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on Oct. 28, 2002, the United States recorded 11.8 million crime offenses in 2001, a 2.1 percent increase over 2000.

The offenses included four violent crimes (murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault), and three property crimes (burglary, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft). Firearms were involved in 26.2 percent of violent crime cases, and murder cases increased by 2.5 percent.

There was an offense in every 2.7 seconds, and there were 44 murders, 248 rapes and 26 hate crimes each day. Among the crime offences were 15,980 murders and 90,491 forcible rapes.

Crime in many major American cities went up in 2002. In Washington D.C., drug abuse, gang violence and prostitution ran rampant, and crime went up by 36 percent from 2001; in Boston the crime rates increased by 67 percent, and in Los Angeles, by 27 percent.

The murder rate in the United States was five to seven times higher than most industrial nations.

During January-November 2002, New York City reported 489 murder cases; Chicago registered 485 homicide cases, in which 515 people were killed; and Detroit reported 346 murders.

During the same period Los Angeles reported 595 murder cases with 614 people killed, up 11.3 percent and 20.5 percent compared to the same period in 2001 and 2000, respectively (Los Angeles, Nov. 21, 2002, AFP).

The Constitution of the United States provides that the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed, and the constitutions of 44 states in the nation include provisions safeguarding citizens' right to possess guns.

In the United States, guns owned by private individuals exceed 200 million, averaging nearly one for every citizen. In 2002, the numbers of gun buyers across the United States went up by 13 percent to twice over previous years, and the number of rifle owners increased even faster.

The National Rifle Association of the United States has over 2.8 million members. Excessive gun ownership has led to frequent shootings, and victims of firearms-related crime number more than 30,000 a year.

On March 26, a retired sheriff's deputy in Merced County, California, shot and killed his 5-year-old daughter and his three stepchildren while his estranged wife was out for a walk, then committed suicide with the body of one of the youngsters in his arms.

On May 30, a gunman opened fire inside a grocery store at a Top Valu Market near the downtown marina in Long Beach, California, killing a woman and a 7-year-old girl and wounding four others before he was fatally shot by police (Long Beach, California, May 31, 2002, AFP).

From October 2 to October 22, serial gun shooting cases occurred in Washington D.C. and neighboring Maryland and Virginia states, in which ten people were killed and three others were seriously wounded.

The number of gun shootings went up by 40 percent in Los Angeles in 2002 over 2001. Between the evening of November 19 and the early morning of November 20, five separate cases of gun shooting took place in downtown Los Angeles, leaving two people dead and seven others wounded.

Crime rates among juveniles in the United States have remained high, with youngsters accounting for 20 percent of violent crime.

Drug abuse among youngsters has kept increasing. Drug abuse among tenth-grade high school students in the United States went up from 11.6 percent in 1991 to 22.7 percent in 2001, and 34.4 percent of senior high school students in New York City have at least taken marijuana once.

In 2001, there were 638,000 narcotics-related cases, and drug abuse accounted for 25 percent of violent crime in the United States.

After the September 11 terrorist attacks, crime in schools decreased as most schools have installed metal detectors and videocameras, but it was reported that 6 percent of the students still carried guns to school.

Violence in schools such as bullying rose by 12 percent, and at least 10,000 students in the United States choose to stay at home once in a month for fear of being bullied ("School Crime Decreasing, US Says, But Students Still Fear Bullying, Reports Show", Dec. 10, 2002, Sun).

Violence in nursing homes for the aged in the United States is worrisome. In March 2002, a report submitted to the U.S. Congress said that inmates in some of such homes had suffered splash of cold water, battery and sexual assault.

However, such acts had never been regarded as crime, and most of them had not been prosecuted. Statistics show that there are 17,000 homes for the aged and similar institutions in the United States, housing 1.6 million aged Americans.

Violations of law have been found in about 26 percent of them, and two percent of which have caused physical injuries.  

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