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US report on human rights steeped in double standards, says Russian diplomat

The US State Department released its 2020 human rights report on Tuesday, which particularly criticizes a number of countries, including Russia

MOSCOW, April 1. /TASS/. The US State Department report on the global human rights situation is filled with double standards and cliched accusations, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova told a briefing Thursday.

"The text [of the report] as it always happens is steeped in double standards regarding assessment of human rights situations in various states which are very cynically divided into good and bad ones depending on how well they follow US strategies or if they have their own idea on how to live and develop," she said. "The circle of penalized countries is also of course set out, the list of cliched complaints against them is easy to guess without reading the report."

"It is simply impossible to not be ironic about the statement that the US administration will counter human rights violations wherever they take place irrespective of whether the perpetrators of these violations are partners or opponents of the US," Zakharova added, pointing out that Washington should primarily address their own state agencies.

According to her, actions of the very US bodies "lead to global cases of human rights breaches rather than singular ones."

The US State Department released its 2020 human rights report on Tuesday, which particularly criticizes a number of countries, including Russia.

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Maria Zakharova

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